Karn DhingraThe University of North Texas Dallas (UNT Dallas) and the City of Dallas have announced a $10 million grant from the Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) for a new Law Enforcement Training Center.
The funds will support the design and construction of the new police academy, which will be built on 5 acres of the 268-acre UNT Dallas campus, with an adjacent park shared with the university. The center will include classrooms, a gym and workout facilities and virtual reality training technology.
Construction on the estimated $140 million project is set for 2025 and will be completed in 2027.
Dallas will vote on a bond package this year that will include $50 million for the training center. The state legislature has also committed $20 million to the project.
The Dallas Police Department’s Police Academy will move from its current home to a rented industrial space in the Red Bird area of southern Dallas, which was meant to be only temporary when it opened in 1990.
“If Dallas is going to be the safest big city in America, our officers and recruits must receive leading edge law enforcement instruction,” Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson said in a statement. “This significant investment from Communities Foundation of Texas will allow us to take our already recognized and sought after training to new levels.”
The Dallas Police Department will be the first to have an officer training academy on a four-year university’s campus by locating its academy at UNT Dallas.
“I can’t overstate the significance of the gift from CFT and the far-reaching impact it will have,” said Bob Mong, president of UNT Dallas. “The innovative, state-of-the-art facility will serve multiple law enforcement and public safety agencies in North Texas and beyond. It will be a national model for instruction and training in 21st-century policing philosophies and techniques.”
Strategic Partnerships, Inc. can provide information on contract opportunities, plus existing and future government funding. For more information, contact research@spartnerships.com.
Photo courtesy of the UNT System.
