LAKE COUNTY, Ohio — After years in the making, the Lake County Sheriff’s Public Safety Training Facility is nearing the final stages of completion.
“We can get people to the range more often to learn their skills and to develop those skills, so they can take them back to their communities and be a safer officer on the street,” said Lake County Sheriff Frank Leonbruno.
Previously, Sheriff Frank Leonbruno said deputies had been operating out of an outdated facility.
But in 2020, discussions began to build this new state-of-the-art center.
“That old trailer was worn down. You could push the walls out and see the grass, really couldn’t train during the winter, and so our hope was to get rid of all that,” said Leonbruno.
Phase one included the construction of this classroom space, which opened in June.
The site even features a tactical range for live fire, a live fire pistol range and a live fire long-range gun facility, all of which can help train four to five departments at the same time.
“Police departments no longer have to send people out of state or hours away,” said Leonbruno. “We can bring that training here to our training facility.”
Then, in July, Lake County Clerk of Courts Faith Andrews awarded $300,000 to the sheriff’s office to help them complete a simulation building with moveable walls.
“The days of shooting paper targets from a stationary position and then trying to go out in the field and deal with what we’re dealing with now; something had to be done,” said Lake County Clerk of Courts Faith Andrews.
While the room is still bare, Sheriff Don Ticel says this added resource will help him and other deputies better respond in critical situations.
“Those officers can practice de-escalation with people or a force on force with real-world players,” Ticel said.
Ticel also told News 5 it will allow for more collaboration.
“Working with all these other instructors inside Lake County, we’re building better officers to serve their communities,” said Ticel.
Deputies are hopeful the building will be completed before their first class next month.
