ATLANTA — Governor Brian Kemp, praising the "State of the State" in the annual speech to the legislature, spent a large portion of the speech praising law enforcement and the project to build a new Public Safety Training Center in Atlanta.
The project, known to critics as "Cop City," technically is not a state issue, but politically, it most certainly is.
With a personal camera crew documenting his entrance to the Georgia House chamber, Kemp’s sixth State of the State speech had a large VIP gallery that included Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.
It also included Georgia State Patrol Trooper First Class Jerry Parrish. Parrish was on the scene during a confrontation a year ago at the site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center project. Investigators say when protester Manuel Teran fired a shot from a pistol, the bullet struck Trooper Parrish. He spent months recovering from gunshot injuries. Teran died when troopers returned fire.
"Will you please stand with your wife, Kelli, and let us thank you for your great service?" Kemp asked Parrish from the podium. Parrish complied while seated in the gallery to thunderous applause. Other first responders who helped Parrish exit the scene following the shooting were also on hand.
Parrish politely declined our interview request afterward.
Kemp and other Republicans contend that Georgians want robust police services, saying the training center project, opposed by many on the political left, is essential.
"Despite what some may say, we need more police officers, not fewer," Kemp said during his speech. "As long as I'm your governor, there will be no gray area or political double talk. We support our law enforcement officers... and the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center needs to be built. Period," Kemp said.
However, opponents say the training center project is wrongheaded and wasteful. Democrats say gun violence is at the root of Georgia’s public safety problems. They have pushed bills to restrict guns and compel safe storage of firearms – bills Republicans have stifled.
"Often time you have to have community based policing in some of these areas. But we aren’t talking about that," said state Rep. James Beverly (R-Macon), the House Democratic leader. "How do you de-escalate situations? How do you prevent gun violence from even happening?"
Kemp also spent considerable time criticizing the federal government under President Biden, announced more pay raises for teachers and other state employees and asked the general assembly to pass a School Choice Bill between now and adjournment this spring.