The Lafayette Police Department is showing off its new training center.
The facility is at South and 13th streets, the site of the former Ford School, in a building that was once the U.S. Army Reserve Center. The city bought the property, in part, to alleviate overcrowding at the police department.
Chief Don Roush hopes the building serves as a regional training facility for agencies in northwest Indiana.
"We probably have a duty, I think, to provide not only a facility, but trainers and opportunities. We have hundreds and hundreds of police officers in Tippecanoe and surrounding counties that if they'd like a facility, they can come and use it."
The building includes meeting rooms, a computer training room and storage areas. Roush says a point of pride is the new firearms simulator.
"It's pretty interesting, pretty interactive with sensors, the guy on the screen follows you, which is a little odd at first. It has scenarios for officers to test their reaction and it has the ability to test at a range. For the younger officers, there are shooting games."
The purchase cost for the center was about $215,000. Roush says renovation costs were kept low thanks to work done by city employees from almost every department.