Granada Hills : LAPD Driver-Training Facility to Be Built
The Los Angeles Board of Public Works this week awarded a $22.5-million contract to build a Los Angeles Police Department facility in Granada Hills where officers can practice high-speed chases.
On Wednesday, the board awarded the contract to a partnership including American Kuk Dong Inc. and Advanced Architect & Development Co. Inc. to build the driver-training facility near the old Van Norman Reservoir.
According to police officials, the department has had difficulty meeting state-mandated requirements for driver training for working police officers because the department has not had its own facility in some time. For that reason, project manager Sgt. Bill Dolan said, the board saw the training center as a pressing need.
“This is going to give us a facility of our own and provide training that not only meets the mandated requirements, but also provides training that we think is necessary to reinforce the skills that we’re providing in the [police] academy,” Dolan said.
In addition to driver training, the facility will also be used for weapons and tactical training.
The center, which is scheduled to open in January 1998, will be built on 44 acres of land near the Los Angeles Reservoir west of the Golden State Freeway.
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