Regional Firearms Range Training Facility Project

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

In order to address significant training program limitations, the Police Departments of Albemarle County, the City of Charlottesville and University of Virginia (UVA) developed a regional partnership to design, construct and operate an indoor Regional Firearms Training Center. The nearly $6 Million Regional Firearms Training Center was built on property owned by UVA for sole use and control by the partnership and opened in June of 2016 for use by nearly 400 police personnel across the region. The new facility provides a state-of-the-art training environment, honing skills in situational awareness and decision-making, to provide a safe and effective law enforcement response to the type of complex threats facing law enforcement today and into the future. This project is the first of its kind for our region. As the region continues to grow and policing issues become more sophisticated and complex, joint and multidisciplinary training is increasingly critical. The new facility provides the following powerful advantages for regional safety and security: • Opportunity for Regional Training: The new facility allows for a higher level of multi-jurisdictional training between the partners. In turn, the Albemarle-Charlottesville community will realize a benefit, as the partnerships formed in training will enhance the local law enforcement response and handling of large critical incidents. By allowing regional officers to train closely together, this facility ensures a faster and higher level response in the case of an emergency. • Training Program Effectiveness: Police training hours have doubled for the County since the opening of the range and include five joint training sessions with the partners. The Facility has allowed enhanced training due to turning/moving Targets; 180% shooting ability; Low Light/No Light capability; Lead Safety; Padded Defensive Tactics Rooms; Portable Simulated Shoot Houses- Building Searches; On-Site Armory and reduction in travel time for training program implementation.