New LAPD Center Is Named for Ex-Chief
It’s been called a “Disneyland for Cops,” but the official name of the Los Angeles Police Department’s new state-of-the-art training facility in Granada Hills will be the Edward M. Davis Driving Training Center.
Upon recommendation of the Los Angeles Police Commission, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to name the facility in honor of the former chief who headed the LAPD from 1969 to 1978.
Scheduled to open Oct. 26, the $28-million, 44-acre training facility will include three firing ranges, a four-mile driving track, a motorcycle course, a laser gun simulation room and a mock city scene where officers can practice handling emergencies such as bank robberies and hostage crises.
Mayor Richard Riordan originally proposed the facility be named in honor of Davis, whom Riordan called “a highly regarded law enforcement innovator.”
Davis, who also served in the state Senate from 1980 to 1992, was an outspoken leader of the LAPD, credited with modernizing the department, particularly in the areas of training and community policing.
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