Wichita State University, the city of Wichita and Sedgwick County officially announced plans for a new Law Enforcement Training Center on Tuesday.
The $9.5 million state-of-the-art facility will be located on WSU’s Innovation Campus. It will include training space and classrooms for the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department, the Wichita Police Department, and the WSU's criminal justice program.
Chief Gordon Ramsay of the WPD says a training partnership between the city and county has existed for more than 30 years.
"To take this to the next level, where you are embedded in an educational institution, there's nothing else like in the country," Ramsay says. "So when we can use their resources, their research, work together on projects and be the best we can, this is a win-win.”
Construction on the Law Enforcement Training Center is set to begin this fall. The three-story, 60,000-square-foot building will also house the Regional Community Policing Institute and the Midwest Criminal Justice Institute.
WSU has agreed to cover maintenance fees for the building for the first five years. The building is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2017.
--
Follow Abigail Wilson on Twitter @AbigailKMUW
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.