Joint Baltimore Fire, Police Training Facility Eyed

As far back as 2015, Baltimore officials have floated the idea of relocating parts or all of the city’s police academy to Coppin State University, a historically Black institution in West Baltimore.

A preliminary design report prepared by architectural firm Manns Woodward Studios now offers a price tag for such a move: $330 million or more.

The report, published Aug. 17 by the Maryland Stadium Authority, describes the cost of a proposed joint Baltimore Police and Fire training facility as a “significant investment” but argues the “cost of doing nothing is exponentially more.” The firm contends that a “state-of-the-art facility” would attract candidates to city police and fire agencies and better prepare them, potentially improving public safety and reducing lawsuits against the city.

The proposal came to light last week in a quarterly consent decree hearing, when a Baltimore Police deputy commissioner described a possible public safety facility that could include a “tactical village.” It caught many residents by surprise, drawing criticism and comparisons to the contentious “Cop City” facility being protested in Atlanta.

The study, however, is the latest development in a years-long saga of interest in housing the city’s police academy on the campus that has been championed by lawmakers representing the area. Before the academy’s move to the University of Baltimore in 2020, officials considered creating a police training curriculum with Coppin State University that would offer trainees college credit hours. It was declined in 2019 by then-Commissioner Michael Harrison, who determined the university’s classrooms wouldn’t meet the department’s training needs.

Proponents of a police academy at Coppin didn’t give up — and Democratic state Sen. Antonio Hayes in 2020 secured $450,000 from the Maryland General Assembly for the study released this month. The goal, he said in an interview, was to answer the question: What would it take in order to build it?

Hayes acknowledged the estimated price tag is “a lot” and that creating such a public safety facility would require the “political will of participating parties.” Any movement toward construction is a long ways away, he added. No funding sources have been identified.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in an emailed statement through spokesperson Bryan Doherty that the proposals are in a “very conceptual phase,” adding that the initial study is “just beginning to be assessed.” Scott’s office didn’t say whether the project would be a priority for his administration, which is moving forward with other capital projects such as recreation centers, pools and athletic courts.

“The city is confronted with a number of serious challenges with its training facilities for both the police and fire departments, and as is required by the consent decree, we are continuing to look at innovative ways to address them and upgrade facilities,” Doherty said.

In a 2020 letter requesting that the Maryland Stadium Authority initiate a study, Coppin State University President Anthony L. Jenkins wrote that the governor and General Assembly had identified a public safety building on Coppin’s campus as a “priority” project for Baltimore.

Jenkins said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun that the university “supports and welcomes discussion” of the public safety facility. There would be “great synergy and value” in the partnership, he said, including opportunities for faculty to lend expertise and for the city to reimagine community policing and strengthen community engagement. He said no university funding would be used for construction.

“We believe the facility cannot only play a profound role in enhancing the holistic training and preparation of our first responders, but also enhance recruitment of first responders who are reflective of the community they serve,” Jenkins said.

The study evaluated two potential sites, one directly south of Coppin State University’s Science and Technology Building and another several blocks south of the campus adjacent to two local schools. It concluded the first option was better due to its “stronger relationship” with the campus.

The site’s potential design includes an elevated public plaza, a parking garage, a police firing range in the basement, fitness facilities, police and fire training labs and a “practical training scenario village.” The “village” is described in the report as a multi-story training space that would include typical Baltimore street widths and buildings that city responders might encounter, such as two-story rowhomes, stores and garden apartments. It adds it would serve as a shared training space for police and firefighters, and that that police could use it to practice traffic stops, hostage negotiations and barricade situations.

“Here lies an opportunity to design a facility that will encourage a diverse group of skilled and educated first responders to serve their community,” the study’s authors wrote.

Atlanta’s “Cop City” training complex would also feature a so-called tactical village, or mock city. Its estimated cost of $90 million is far less than Baltimore’s estimated $330 million. Other recently constructed training facilities also include mock villages, including the $950 million New York City Police Academy’s bank, grocery store, bar and subway station.

Ralikh Hayes, the deputy director of Organizing Black, who has canvassed against “Cop City” in Atlanta, said he objected to putting $330 million toward a new police training facility, particularly one on a historically Black campus. He also questioned why the city would need a new facility, when toward the beginning of the consent decree the police moved to the University of Baltimore into upgraded spaces.

“I could think of 100 things the city needs ... there are numerous things that could be done with capital improvement money,” Hayes said. As for the public safety facility proposal, he added: “We have a lot of questions.”

Sen. Hayes, meanwhile, said he supports the move in part because housing the academy on the campus of a historically Black university would send a “different type of message in community policing that we haven’t experienced yet.” Hayes added it would give police an opportunity to “really break down” perceptions about policing from communities of color.

“I think it would be phenomenal for the community and for first responders,” Hayes said. “But we also need to realize that we just got the study. Up until now, we had no information about what it would take to accomplish such a thing.”

Baltimore Police’s training academy’s facility has long vexed the agency. Prior to the city’s 2017 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice to remedy constitutional violations, the DOJ found the department had deficient training infrastructure, including “outdated, ill-repaired” facilities. For years, police trained at a former middle school in Northwest Baltimore described by the consent decree monitor team as in “significant disrepair.”

The monitor team found early last year that the agency had significantly upgraded its training spaces, following its 2020 move to the University of Baltimore. But it also found ongoing issues with the shooting ranges used by the agency, which it said would need to be remedied before it was in compliance with the policing consent decree. The decree mandates the city “reasonably” fund the police academy and create a plan for “renovating and updating training facilities.”

That 2022 monitor team assessment didn’t mention the need for training space to replace the University of Baltimore’s classrooms. That home for the police academy, however, has long been considered temporary, according to Sen. Hayes and documents from the time.

Baltimore Police has a five-year lease agreement with the University of Baltimore for the space at an annual rent of roughly $1.4 million.

University of Baltimore spokesperson Chris Hart called the relationship with the academy “positive” and said the school would consider renewing the five-year lease in 2024. He added they are aware of discussions about a training facility at Coppin State University and said University of Baltimore hopes those efforts “can coincide with any planning we may need to do regarding the lease renewal.”

University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke said it was his understanding a permanent facility for BPD’s training center would be at a location adjacent to Coppin, Hart said.

The city’s fire department, according to the report, is also operating out of a space “undersized” for its needs, in an aging building that isn’t able to meet current codes. The fire department did not respond to a request for comment sent by email on Monday.

The Maryland Stadium Authority said in an emailed statement that its role in managing the study was to provide “unbiased and objective” analysis. Spokesperson Rachelina Bonacci said it’s not slated to be discussed at any upcoming stadium authority meetings.

The report includes an appendix detailing possible funding sources. It floats as options: federal or state grants, bonds, private contributions and a sunsetting public safety income tax.

It also highlights Atlanta’s facility as a case study, calling the 85-acre project one of a “similar magnitude.” While public and private funding meant the Atlanta project met funding requirements, a “lack of community buy-in” has “reduced the overall success,” the report said.

That pushback, the Baltimore report continued, “only [highlights] the importance of local community and political buy-in early in the project.”