Jersey City officials unveiled the new $6 million Public Safety De-Escalation and Training Center this morning, which boasts comprehensive instruction on conflict resolution, crisis intervention, and de-escalation techniques, among other things.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
“Our homicide rate is lower than any city east of Texas in this country … This year, we are trending even lower,” Fulop said during a press conference at the facility, located at 15-17 Linden Ave., this morning. He noted the facility came with a $6 million price tag.
“ … Excellence around training will give better execution, better delivery of services, better police-community relations out in the rest of Jersey City … We think it will take the JCPD [Jersey City Police Department] to the next level.”
He also noted that while their homicide rates are seeing a downward trend, even one shooting death is too many.
Public Safety Director James Shea stated that the center was the vision of Police Director Tawana Moody.
“This is just a small piece of what we’re doing. We have to account for what we’re doing. We have to train to get better at it.”
During a tour of the facility, Shea noted they created a training unit and a force investigation unit to review what happens when force, like guns or the need to restrain people, is used.
“We have a program of bringing in community members,” he added, noting that they are trying to increase transparency.
Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Greg Kierce noted that the facility was previously for records storage before being converted into a gun range and training building.
“Academies don’t get into this type of extensive training, and the state keeps mandating more and more training for police departments, but no one has had the capacity to keep up. Now we do. Plus, we are saving money by providing all mandated training in-house while also renting out unused space to other departments,” he added in a statement.
Additionally, Department of Infrastructure Director Barkha Patel said the effort to build the center started during the COVID-19 pandemic. She added that solar panels would be installed on the building to minimize its carbon footprint.
“The conversation around police is at the forefront and it’s complicated. An investment in training is important,” Fulop explained.
During a question and answer session with the press, Fulop said that the facility in was in the works long before Andrew Washington was fatally shot by police as he was wielding a knife during a mental health episode in August 2023.
His sister Courtnie filed a federal lawsuit last month, which asserts that his death was “entirely preventable.”
“Mental health issues are at the forefront of the conversation, both in here, which you saw in the simulators, and nationally – as it should be. We track that in Jersey City very closely and of course we track use-of-force around mental health issues, the number of calls, how do we respond. And I think this facility will only make us better,” Fulop replied.
“So the short answer is no, but training is paramount to improving the response.”
Additionally, Fulop said Union City and Weehawken have already trained officers there an he believes that can make money by renting the facility to other police departments.
Later, Shea explained that Moody’s input led to the creation of the force investigation unit, a training bureau, and the new facility, as well as exploring the possibility of adopting the ARRIVE Together program being touted by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
“My problem, and the problem with Jersey City with the ARRIVE Together program, is the way it is sold to the public and possibly to all of you. It’s sold as an alternative to a police response to people in mental crisis. That is not, definitively, what it does,” he began.
“What they do is they respond after the police response. So, we’re perfectly willing to go along with that, the more services we can provide to people in mental crisis, the better … But we’re concerned with the way it’s presented to the public, and the public believes that will be an alternative that can respond instead of the police, when the truth is that they will not respond until the police secure the scene, just like is happening now.”
Fulop noted that the police body camera footage of the Washington was released relatively quickly following the urging of the city, which showed that medical professionals on the scene were waiting for police to secure the area and did not want to enter.
“Mental health calls last year accounted for less than one percent of our overall 260,000 calls for service annually … And any use-of-force subject to injury is, generally speaking, of somebody complaining they were held too hard, or soreness, or discomfort is 0.25 of one percent of those calls that were responded,” Fulop stated.
He declined to comment specifically on the Washington case, said the training center has been in the works for about two years, and that ARRIVE Together would only see mental health professionals arrive first to respond to mental calls where there is deemed to be no risk.
The center includes a 360-degree training simulator which fully immerses officers in real-world scenarios using real-time simulations based on the participants’ reactions.
Other features are a tactical training room, which emulates incidents such as a car stop or clearing a classroom, two firearm ranges, and five classrooms to go over topics ranging from rendering first aid to adhering to state mandates.
Also at the event, Fulop re-dedicated the new Firearms Ranges in honor of late Jersey City Police Capt, James Weatherall, who mentored hundreds of police officers during his long and distinguished career.
His brother Tommy was very appreciate of the honor, noting that his brother was an expert marksman.
