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Deputies Get More Space To Train

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By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

BRANDON - An idea that formed two years ago as a simple sketch has reached 27,000 square feet of reality for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's Training Division.

The agency unveiled its new facility Tuesday at 1409 N. Falkenburg Road.

The facility includes an interview lab that can be converted to simulate a variety of scenes, a mock jail cell, a backup 911 and radio dispatch center, and a computer simulation room for disaster training.

Maj. Jim Previtera oversees the 18-member training division and said he's excited by what the expansion means for future training possibilities.

'We lacked the facility and we lacked the technology,' Previtera said. 'We have that now.'

Most of the classrooms have ceiling-mounted cameras so classes can be recorded for training purposes.

The facility also includes a 24-hour gym for deputies and civilian staff, complete with rows of free weights, 24 weight-lifting and cardio machines, locker rooms and showers.

The lead fitness instructor is Deputy Stuart O'Shannon.

'The sheriff is trying to be proactive as far as health care is concerned,' O'Shannon said. 'This has an effect on the bottom line. We're a self-insured agency and it's a cost-saving effort.'

Previtera seemed most proud of the building's simplest space. With thick, green wrestling mats on the floors and padded walls, the defensive tactics room offers instructors ample space to teach deputies self-defense moves.

Until now, the agency used gymnasiums operated by Tampa police and Hillsborough Community College, Previtera said.

The hands-on training deputies will receive in the defensive tactics room probably has the most potential to save lives, he said.

Last year, county commissioners approved buying the 59,000-square-foot Pinebrooke Business Park to be split and developed as new offices for the Training Division and Child Protective Investigations Division, which began operating there in January.

The sheriff's office is leasing the building back from the county with money collected from the state Department of Children & Families and the state's criminal justice training trust fund.

Until now, the sheriff's training facilities were limited to 3,000 square feet of classroom space in portable buildings and other structures across the county. The sheriff's Walter C. Heinrich Practical Training Range in rural Lithia has one small permanent structure with offices for some of the training instructors and limited classroom space.

The renovated rooms contain flat-screen televisions, ergonomic chairs and new desks. Previtera said his staff worked diligently to come in under the project's initial estimate of more than $2.5 million.

'We built it out through a general contractor and, using the sheriff's office's facilities people, we reduced it to about $2 million,' he said. 'It's exciting to see our facilities staff build something like this.'

Some inmate labor was used for construction cleanup jobs and outdoor landscaping that ordinarily would be done by private companies, he said.

Outside law enforcement agencies have scheduled classes and workshops at the facility, including the Southern Police Institute from the University of Louisville.

The training division expects to begin operating out of the building Nov. 13 and to hold the next law enforcement and detention deputy graduation there Nov. 30.

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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