New Endicott Police Law Enforcement Training Center Unveiled

A new state-of-the-art training center has been unveiled in the Village of Endicott.

The announcement was made on December 11th by Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo along with the Endicott Police Chief Patrick Garey.

The training center was funded by a $350,000 New York State Assembly grant which will help purchase a fully immersive 360-degree virtual reality platform to train officers for difficult real-world situations. Previously, the range was only rated for handguns. Now, the facility is one of just a few indoor police training facilities in Upstate New York where rifles can be used.

According to the release from Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, the training center will be used by the Endicott Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies including Vestal, Johnson City, Port Dickinson, Binghamton University,  New York State Police, Broome County Sheriff, Broome County Security, and office of the Broome County District Attorney.

I am thrilled to see the new Training Center is finally up and running. Cutting-edge virtual reality technology and the ability to cross-train, along with improvements to the ballistics range, will allow for more realistic training experiences. This will better prepare officers for the wide variety of encounters they face. - Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo 

Many types of training will be offered including mental health crises, de-escalation efforts, emergency intervention, and active shooters. In addition, this system allows officers to cross-train with Mobile Crisis personnel from the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier and other similar human service organizations.

This new Training Center will give law enforcement the ability to train better and more often and provide us important opportunities to cross-train with partner agencies such as mental health crisis teams and school districts. The Virtual Reality training will really be limited only by the imagination. Thank you, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, for your support. - Village of Endicott Police Chief Patrick Garey

The grant will also make possible, major upgrades that will allow for patrol-rifle training and qualification, allowing officers to obtain more proficiency through increased training.