search to begin for new bernalillo county training center site

A long-contemplated plan to build a new training academy center for the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is now in need of a site.

Earlier this month, Bernalillo County voters overwhelmingly approved a $38.7 million general obligation for a variety of park improvements, fire station improvements, and road and storm drain projects.

Included in the larger project is some $4.5 million for the land acquisition and design of a new training facility that would be used jointly by the Sheriff’s Office, as well as the Bernalillo County Fire Department.

Currently, the sheriff’s office trains its cadets on the fourth floor of a former county courthouse building at 415 Tijeras Avenue NW.

According to sources, what is officially called the Regional Training Academy has outgrown its space.

As proposed, the new academy center will have expanded training rooms, workout space, and classrooms.

The project will also be designed to allow for the construction of air support facilities for a sheriff’s office helicopter.

The program offered by the academy lasts for 23 weeks and entails more than 1,000 hours of training.

According to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office website, the training program is designed to subject cadets to “a series of rigorous mental, physical, academic, and emotional challenges.”

By Garry Boulard

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