By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Winnebago County is developing plans to renovate the downtown Public Safety Building for a regional police training institute.
County leaders say the training facility could cohabitate the mostly vacant building with a proposed Family Courts Center, which would use the second floor of the building to alleviate pressures of busy and potentially volatile family law courtrooms.
The Winnebago County Regional Police Training Center would take up about 76,000 square feet on the third and fourth floors of the facility. That includes the old jail cells, which can be used for training corrections officers.
The center would also provide training grounds for crisis negotiation, bomb investigation, building searches, deescalation techniques and responding to active shooter calls. There would also be space for officers to receive mental health counseling.
“That’s really important for any of our officers to have access to a facility where they can do that, so that their first opportunity to have that scenario isn’t with a 14-year-old,” said Marlana Dokken, director of the county board chairman’s Office of Criminal Justice Initiatives.
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The new center will roughly double the space of 720 Chestnut St., where officers train now, Winnebago County Board Chairman Joe Chiarelli said. The county was spurred to explore reusing the PSB space because Rock Valley College is purchasing the Chestnut building as part of a cluster of properties for its future downtown campus.
“If the Rock Valley College deal wasn’t on the table, we were not considering that,” Chiarelli said. “We would have expanded the police training facility at its current location at 720 Chestnut.”
The chairman said bolstering training options for officers is important with the increased focus on training across Illinois, some of which is mandated by the state’s SAFE-T Act.
“That’s our No. 1 priority is keeping our people safe and making sure our employees are well-trained,” Chiarelli said.
Congressman Eric Sorensen, a Rockford-born Democrat who represents the 17th District, said he has requested $846,910 in federal funding to provide equipment for the center. He said it could improve police community-relations by preparing officers for more scenarios they will encounter on duty.
“This funding will allow Winnebago County to operate a state-of-the-art police training facility that is unmatched in our region,” Chiarelli said. “Investing in the quality training of our law enforcement will not only strengthen retention, but attract new recruits. Providing this scenario-based education will result in properly trained officers who are well-equipped to serve and protect our community.”
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The Public Safety Building’s former jail has been empty since July 2007, when crowded cells were cleared for the move into the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center. About six years ago, Rockford police moved out of the building and into three district stations.
The site was initially considered for demolition, but last year County Board members decided to explore renovations instead. Sheriff Gary Caruana said using the space for police training is the right move.
“Instead of taking it down, let’s put an investment into the community on all levels and move from there,” Caruana said.
Caruana said the center could allow for the county to host a police training institute here, rather than send new officers to Champaign before they begin their careers.
“This is for the greater good of the community for all of us: Law enforcement, the criminal justice system, negotiations, mental health issues — we’re raising the bar and we’re providing that training and that training facility right here,” Caruana said.
Chiarelli sees potential synergy between the police training center and Rock Valley’s expansion in downtown.
“Between the college opening a campus downtown and having a state-of-the-art police training facility, it’s a game-changer,” Chiarelli said.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas