Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the referendum happening in the City of Atlanta and not in unincorporated DeKalb?

Because the proposed Cop City site is owned by the City of Atlanta and was leased by the city to the Atlanta Police Foundation, only the City has the power to cancel the lease—whether by action from the City Council and/or Mayor, or through a referendum voted on by Atlanta residents.

This is one of the many reasons we say that the Cop City project is anti-democratic. Though Cop City would most significantly impact residents of unincorporated DeKalb County, there is no formal mechanism or referendum that unincorporated DeKalb voters can use to cancel the lease. While unincorporated DeKalb residents won’t be able to vote in the referendum, we hope everyone who cares about stopping Cop City will take action to make sure we win!

Our faith in the strength and ingenuity of this movement is strong, and we encourage continued scrutiny of this flawed project, exploration of additional legal avenues, as well as parallel efforts to Stop Cop City.

If the City Council already voted on funding Cop City, doesn’t that make this a done deal?

While the City Council voted to approve the funding, this referendum would repeal the lease itself. It’s modeled on a similar successful ballot measure in Camden County, and the referendum question-whether or not to cancel the lease-would be placed on a ballot this November for the voters of Atlanta to decide. If Atlantans vote in favor of terminating the lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation, the Cop City project will end.

What is a referendum?

A referendum is a direct vote by the voters on a political issue. In this case, the referendum is about whether to repeal the lease for the construction of Cop City. Residents are able to add a referendum issue to a ballot by successfully gathering a requisite number of petition signatures from other residents.

Isn’t police training important?

The Stop Cop City movement is made up of people of many different beliefs, including those who want to abolish policing and create alternative public safety models, and those who don’t necessarily want to abolish policing but oppose the environmental devastation and militarized policing that would result from Cop City. While police will train as long as they exist, increased training is not tied to reduced violence. The Atlanta Police officer who killed Rayshard Brooks went through over 2,000 hours of training, including deescalation, cultural awareness, and use of force training. The training that would occur at Cop City is not meant to keep citizens safe – Cop City will further militarize the police and train them to more effectively repress and control Black, Brown, and working class Atlantans.