Perea And City Council Dedicate Land For Police Training Village
06/27/2006
Fresno, CA (June 27, 2006) On Tuesday, June 27th, Acting Council President Henry T. Perea and the Fresno City Council voted to transfer 76.81 acres of land to the Police Department for a Regional Public Safety Training Center.
The Fresno Police Department has been critically analyzing the state of its departmental training since 1996. In 1997 the Fresno Police Department began the development of the Region 6 Public Safety Training Facilities Master Plan. This study found that Fresno Police training needed expanded facilities. In 2000 a $600,000 grant from the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) helped pay for additional drivers training and force option simulators.
The department has not, however, had a central location for its training to be held. Simulators are downtown, range facilities are at Herndon and 99, and emergency vehicle operations training never found a suitable location. This land transfer will provide a training campus where all of these activities can take place and enhance the quality of training that the Fresno Police Department receives. The village will also include a new firing range, a simulation village, an evoc course (driving training), and class rooms.
Acting Council President Perea, a POST Commissioner since 2005, has been a longtime supporter of a training village for the Fresno Police Department. "It just makes sense to give them the best training we possibly can. These men and women protect our homes and our streets. The better prepared they are to do their job, the better their ability to serve the City of Fresno."