ATLANTA — Atlanta police gave Channel 2 Action News video that they say shows the need for the new public safety training facility.
They say the time-lapse video reveals how long it takes officers to drive from Atlanta to Monroe County where they currently train.
It’s more than an hour and a half one-way in heavy traffic.
“Do you believe that in the early going, certain people hijacked the narrative about the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center?” Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne asked Atlanta Police Assistant Chief Carven Tyus.
“Absolutely,” Tyus said.
The Atlanta Police Department said the department shot its own time-lapse video of the trip an officer recently made to the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Monroe County for important training on the state’s track.
“We don’t have our own place for vehicle training,” Tyus said.
That will change when the controversial new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center opens.
“That is 60 miles one-way, about an hour drive. So, if that officer’s going down there for a weeklong course, that’s 10 hours that that officer’s on the road. So that’s an additional day of training that officers could’ve had somewhere else honing their skills,” Tyus said.
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Atlanta police Investigator Jasmyn Mogavero and auto crimes Officer Torez Griffie said for their vehicle pursuit termination techniques training that took five days, they both recently traveled daily to the state’s public safety training center.
Griffie said he was there as one who has conducted two so-called PIT maneuvers for real in the pursuit of suspects.
“I stay in South Fulton, and it took in the morning time, with no traffic, it takes about 50 minutes,” Griffie said.
“And back?” Winne asked.
“On the way back, it takes between an hour-35, an hour-45 minutes with traffic,” Griffie said.
“I’m in Henry County, so in the morning on the way there, it’s about 35, 40 minutes. On the way back with traffic it’s about an hour and a half,” Mogavero said.
To get an idea of how much closer, the new APD track might be, Winne traveled with APD Officer Michael Edie from just outside Atlanta police headquarters to the vicinity of the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
It took roughly 15 minutes.
Mogovero and Griffie said they’re glad a track is included at the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center that is currently under construction, and that police driving training makes not only officers safer but also the public sharing the streets with them.
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