ENDICOTT, NY – Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and Village of Endicott Police Chief Patrick Garey unveiled the new Endicott Police Law Enforcement Training Center at the Endicott Police Department. The new state-of-the-art Training Center was made possible through a $350K Assembly grant secured by Lupardo, boosting the training capabilities of the Endicott PD and other local law enforcement agencies.

The grant was used to purchase a fully immersive 360-degree virtual reality platform to train officers for difficult real-world situations. These scenarios include mental health crises, de-escalation efforts, emergency intervention, and active shooters. In addition to training law enforcement, the system allows officers to cross-train with Mobile Crisis personnel from the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier and other similar human service organizations.

The existing ballistics range also received major upgrades that will allow for patrol-rifle training and qualification, allowing officers to obtain more proficiency through increased training. Prior to the renovation, the range was rated for handguns only. All patrol rifle training had to be coordinated with the availability of outdoor ranges operated by private entities. It is now one of the only indoor police training facilities in Upstate where rifles can be used.

The Endicott Police Law Enforcement Training Center is available to all law enforcement agencies in the Southern Tier. Prior to the upgrades, the range was used by the following agencies, who are expected to continue to frequently use the facility: Endicott, Vestal, Johnson City, and Port Dickinson, along with Binghamton University Police, the NYS Police, Broome County Sheriff, Broome County Security, and the office of the Broome County District Attorney.

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo said “I am thrilled to see the new Training Center is finally up and running. Cutting-edge virtual reality technology and the ability to cross-train, along with improvements to the ballistics range, will allow for more realistic training experiences. This will better prepare officers for the wide variety of encounters they face.”

Village of Endicott Police Chief Patrick Garey said, “This new Training Center will give law enforcement the ability to train better and more often and provide us important opportunities to cross train with partner agencies such as mental health crisis teams and school districts. The Virtual Reality training will really be limited only by the imagination. Thank you, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, for your support.”