In 1987, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center first opened its doors with a mission to “serve those who serve.” On Sat., July 22, public safety professionals gathered at the campus in Forsyth to celebrate the training center’s three decades of success in accomplishing that mission.
The center’s anniversary festivities began with a demonstration in which officers showcased their masterful maneuvering of official public safety motorcycles. Next, Governor Nathan Deal, Attorney General Chris Carr and GPSTC Director Chris Wigginton inaugurated the center’s latest expansion of its Basic Emergency Vehicle Operations Course. Gov. Deal, who voted to allocate the original funding for GPSTC during his tenure in the state senate, argued not just for the value of the facility, but for the value of effective public safety professionals as well.
“The stability of any nation, especially nations that are democracies and respect the will of the people, (should) be able to give those people the confidence that their government is protecting them and their property appropriately,” said Gov. Deal in a speech before the ribbon-cutting. “One of the best and most effective tools that you have and our state has is to have you well trained, and that is what the mission of this facility here is.”
Throughout the past thirty years, GPSTC has grown to become the premiere public safety training facility in the state, hosting hundreds of thousands of law enforcement professionals receiving basic and advanced training. In fiscal year 2017, almost 200,000 professionals completed their courses at GPSTC’s near-1000-acre state-of-the-art campus, online and at regional affiliate academies.
Ensuring students are well trained is the priority at GPSTC, and the anniversary celebration showcased its programs by presenting mock exercises such as live fire suppression scenarios, vehicle vs. structure fires, high speed vehicle pursuits, firearms demonstrations and several live explosives. Vendors also displayed equipment like uniforms, firearms, vehicles and even drones, all of which are used in GPSTC training programs.
“This being the 30th anniversary, it’s a milestone for the training center but it’s also an opportunity where we can showcase what we do here,” said John Hutcheson, an instructor with the Georgia Police Academy and Public Information Officer for GPSTC. Hutcheson and many other instructors were on hand throughout the day to showcase the seriousness with which they take their jobs – jobs that, Wigginton explained, are crucial to the center’s success.
“The people that work here every day really carry the flag about what they do,” he said. “They are the ones that provide the training that people go out with and use to make an impact in their lives. The staff, the team that works here, I’m very proud of them and I’m very proud to showcase them.”
GPSTC’s team is comprised of experts from across state agencies, including GEMA/HS. These partnerships have resulted in significant enhancements to the center’s training capabilities: for example, the fire flow used in firefighter training is provided by the Georgia Fire Academy; live firearm techniques are taught by the Georgia Police Academy; and explosive detonations are guided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “They support us and we support them,” said Wigginton.
As for GPSTC’s partnership with GEMA/HS, the center serves as the secondary staging area during activations, and works with the agency regularly to fund and organize training programs and courses. “We’re very grateful for that partnership and being able to get that training and those resources out to our local law enforcement, firefighters and first responders.”
Despite the elaborate demonstrations and sheer expanse of the services offered at GPSTC, it is serving its students that Wigginton stays focused on. “I couldn’t care less what uniform you wear, what agency you represent,” he said. “When you come through that front gate and you turn around and leave out that gate, you deserve to receive the best training possible in the nation.”
In a release, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center thanked all who made the event a success and looks forward to another thirty years of training the professionals among the public safety communities in Georgia and across the country.
Kommentare