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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 01/27/2015 - REGIONAL TRAINING FACILITY FOR POLICE SERVICESDATE: STAFF: January 27, 2015 Cory Christensen, Police Deputy Chief John Hutto, Police Chief WORK SESSION ITEM City Council SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION Regional Training Facility for Police Services. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to discuss the regional training campus for Police Services. Police Services training facilities are currently inadequate for the current need to meet the necessary skill training of driving and weapons training. The current gun range facility was built in 1984 and purchased by the City in 1990. At the time that facility was purchased Police Services had 105 sworn officers. Today Police Services has grown to 203 sworn officers and have outgrown the current indoor facility. Weapons training is split between two facilities due to the disrepair of the indoor firing range. Police Services is forced to travel a great distance to an adequate outdoor range for much of the weapons related training necessary for maintain adequate skill levels. The indoor range also is in need of tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of repair in order to maintain a safe training environment for officers. If those repairs are made the facility is still inadequate for the current firearms needs of Police Services. There is no training location in Larimer County for Police Services to conduct driver’s training. The closest driving training facility is located in Adams County and requires officers to travel over one hour each way to use the facility. The demand on this facility is considerable and Police Services routinely is unable to train due to schedule conflicts imposed by the owners of the facility. Police Services has been in engaged in a cooperative partnership with the City of Loveland in determining current needs for each agency, locating a mutually agreeable location, plans for usage by other public safety agencies, estimates on annual operation and maintenance, strategies on how to partially offset some of the O & M costs, and preliminary designs on a facility that would meet our current needs as well as future growth for both police agencies. GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED Police Services is requesting direction for the following items  Has Police Services adequately demonstrated the need to move forward with a training facility?  Does Council require additional analysis of Fort Collins Police training alternatives?  Does Council support the proposed partnership with Loveland? BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The City of Fort Collins has been experiencing considerable growth over the past several years and that growth is intended to continue. Over the next 20 to 25 years it is anticipated that the population will grow by about 100,000 more citizens. This anticipated growth will need to be met by continued growth in the core services necessary to meet those citizens’ expectations. This means that Police Services will see considerable growth in personnel in the next 20 to 25 years to meet those needs and expectations. The highest liability areas for providing police services fall in the area of skills used by those officers. The three skill areas require regular, consistent and safe training so that officers respond in a controlled and professional manner. All of the skills areas require specialized facilities for the safe and effective training environment necessary to learn and maintain those skills. Those skill areas are; weapons (both lethal and less than lethal), arrest control and defensive tactics, and driving. January 27, 2015 Page 2 Police Services has been using the same facility for weapons training since 1990. At the time of the purchase of that facility there were 105 sworn officers. Today that number is almost double at 203 sworn officers. That facility has been outgrown and is in need of repair in order to provide a safe training environment. The upgrade and repair will still not meet the current needs of Police Services and will cost tens of thousands of dollars. Due to the current inadequate facilities, Police Services has been traveling long distances in order to train on specific weapons in a safe manner. This leads to thousands of miles traveled as well as valuable training time spent on travel alone. This leads to inefficient personnel time, wear and tear on police vehicles and extra cost to the organization. Currently officers are required to drive 40 miles, one way, multiple times per year to safely participate in specific weapons training. Police Services has never had a dedicated resource designed specifically for the skill of driving. The large vacant parking lot of the, now demolished, dog racing track offered a place that driving skills could be practiced. When this resource was no longer available Police Services adapted to the closed Fort Collins Municipal Airport runway. Although the resource was sub-par driving training was possible at this location. That resource is no longer available and the only alternative available to Police Services is to travel to Adams County where a dedicated driving track has been constructed. The Adams County facility is about 60 miles away and requires considerable travel for officers. This facility is in very high demand and scheduling is problematic. It was not possible for Police Services to provide any driving training in 2014 due to the scheduling conflicts. Police Services must plan to meet these needs for now and into the future. Options include Fort Collins building or repairing their own venue for these training needs or entering into a partnership to combine resources in building a facility that will meet those needs. Due to these known deficiencies and inadequate training facilities Police Services has been actively looking for opportunities to move in a positive direction to relieve this issue. The Loveland Police Department is also facing critical shortfalls in adequate training facilities for both driving and weapons training. Out of these needs a partnership was developed between the two police agencies to explore a joint training campus that would meet the training needs for the necessary skills training. The goal was to arrive at a facility that would meet the current and future needs of both agencies. A comprehensive needs study was completed and conceptual design arrived at a facility that provides adequate and safe training for both Police Services and Loveland Police Department. The estimated capital cost to construct this facility is $24 million and it is intended that the capital cost be shared equally between the two cities. No other law enforcement entities have expressed an interest in sharing in the capital investment. Although not intended, there is some additional capacity at our current staffing to sell facility use to other partners in the region. The intent is for this to assist in partially offsetting the operation and maintenance cost of the facility. Letters of intent for using the facility have been signed by 11 additional regional agencies, representing 1100 officers, for usage of this facility. The footprint of the training campus is based solely on the needs of Police Services and Loveland Police Department. The training campus does take into account the planned growth in both communities that will also require growth in officers who are in need of this skills training. A comprehensive, and conservative, business plan has been prepared to show the training space needs, capital and ongoing costs and possible offsetting revenue of this facility. The research and planning stages have been completed with a conceptual design for all aspects of the facility, a comprehensive business plan, letters of intent from 11 area agencies and location of the facility identified. Direction is necessary before moving forward with this facility. ATTACHMENTS 1. Powerpoint presentation (PDF) 1 Police Regional Training Campus 27 January 2015 ATTACHMENT 1 2 Police staffing – 1990 to 2030 • 2013 Citizen Survey shows overall satisfaction with current level of service • 1990 staffing was 105 officers, 2015 Sworn staffing is 203 officers • By 2030 population of Fort Collins could increase to over 240,000 • Assuming a 2.37% growth rate • By 2030 Sworn staffing at current service delivery should be 315 officers • Assuming population of 240,000 citizens 105 126 145 163 172 203 240 277 315 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 Sworn Police Officers 3 Need for Police Training • Provide World Class Service to our Citizens • Maintain professional level of Police Officers • Training best practices for police profession • Reduces liability issues – Failure to Train • Increases safety to citizens and officers Equipment & Facilities: • Building – Excellent • Equipment – Excellent • Training – Barely adequate More difficult as staff increases Training is Critical: 4 Police Training Requirements • Currently conducting 86K hours of training per year for all skill types • Different types of training require different facilities • As staffing grows, it will be increasingly difficult to adequately meet training requirements 5 Categories of Training • Category 1 – Required training either by statute, policy or necessary for job performance. This required training is often being carried out but often at a minimum level due to lack of facilities. • Category 2 – Required training either by statute, policy or necessary for job performance. This required training is being carried out at a satisfactory level. • Category 3 – Desired training. Training that police services would like to perform, but due to lack of facilities it is not possible. 6 Categories of Training • Approximately 50% of training completed to satisfaction – Category 2 • 43% of training completed at minimal level – Category 1 • Rented Facilities and usage of current inadequate facilities • Make do with less than ideal facilities • Reduced training time for officers • 7% additional skills training desired including; decision making scenarios infused into the current training 7 Current Training Facilities • Police Services Building - Good • Classroom • Defensive Tactics – Mat Room • Police Indoor Range - Poor • Pistol use only • Limited space • Requires repair • Limited training opportunities • Pawnee Outdoor Range - Poor • Privately Owned • 40 mile drive one way • Driving Training - Poor • Adams County, very limited availability, 60 mile drive • Unable to schedule any track time in 2015 • SWAT - Poor • Trains at various facilities. Castle Rock, Cheyenne, Pawnee 8 Training Facilities Options Refurbish existing Pistol Range • Creates functioning inadequate facility • Does not address Rifle, SWAT or Track needs • Long Term – FC training facilities would need to be built Refurbish existing Pistol Range & Build Drive Track • Long Term – Firearms and SWAT needs to be addressed • Capital for Track of $8.5M • Where do we build it? Utilize Liberty Arms for Firearms training & Build Drive Track • Liberty Arms proposal added cost $1.1M year for firearms • Capital for track of $8.5M Partner with Loveland – Build Training Center • Develops a No Colorado training center meets all needs • Includes capacity to support future staffing levels 25 years out 9 Why partner with Loveland • Shared capital cost • Shared operating cost • Other regional opportunities • Meet current needs faster 10 Loveland Partnership Assumptions • Facility is jointly owned and operated - 50/50 • Facility includes • Two 25 lane pistol ranges (50 yards) and one 10 lane rifle range (100 yards) • 4 class rooms, mat room & storage • .95 miles of high speed driving track, large skid pad, street grid • Capital Cost • Design - $2M • Build & Construct - $22M • O&M Costs of approximately $710k year • 3.25 FTEs - $300k • Utilities, supplies, range & track maintenance - $305k • Capital reserve & reinvestment - $105K • Capacity to support future growth needs can be used to create revenue to partially offset O&M costs 11 Financials • Staff working to solve Shortfall • Facility rental revenue will reduce over time • City land rental payments not included • FC debt service costs not included – est $850K yr Police Training Facility Operating Costs Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Revenue Class Charge to Outside User $ 107 $ 110 $ 114 $ 117 $ 121 Facility Rental 233 240 247 255 262 Total Revenue $ 340 $ 350 $ 361 $ 372 $ 383 Expenses Personnel 230 302 312 322 332 Operations, Supplies, Maint 286 303 303 318 319 Capital Reserve 104 105 106 107 108 Total Expense $ 620 $ 710 $ 721 $ 747 $ 759 Total Cost Savings 167 172 177 182 187 Shortfall $ (113) $ (188) $ (183) $ (193) $ (189) Fort Collins - 67% 75 125 122 129 126 Loveland - 33% 38 63 61 64 63 12 • Has Police Services adequately demonstrated the need to move forward with a training facility? • Does Council require additional analysis of Police Services training alternatives? • Does Council support the proposed partnership with Loveland? Council Direction