WV State Police Academy Gets Room to Grow - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

West Virginia State Police cadets spend 25 weeks in an intense regimen of 1,200 classroom hours and long sessions of physical fitness to advance their skills for arrests and emergency combat situations.

And now, thanks to funds from a large drug settlement West Virginia received, the West Virginia State Police Academy has space to train safely.

"This is a lot larger than the old hangar, and a lot more functional," said Capt. D.M. Lee, director of training at the West Virginia State Police Academy. "And this has been a long time coming — probably 25 or 30 years.

"Like anything, money is always an issue, and the State Police has a lot of things to fund."

Lee said a brand new physical training center, funded with Purdue Pharma Criminal Asset Forfeiture money, opened in March. The 12,000-square-foot facility cost $1.85 million and the contents added another $100,000. It includes a running track, cardiovascular equipment, mixed-martial art grade mats in a completely padded room that are an upgrade from the worn high school wrestling style mats that were put down for specific training exercises, and a weight room with kettle bells, weigh machines and dumbbells from 5 pounds to 120 pounds apiece.

It's a far cry from the old aircraft hangar that was not only uncomfortable, but also unsafe.

"It was such a confined space that any type of defensive tactical training could be dangerous," said Lt. Curt Tilley, assistant director of training. "That won't be an issue here, and everything was designed to be functional, so an instructor could have cadets doing weights, cardio and in the gym, utilizing all portions of the building and still supervise all three groups."

The new facility has already helped train one basic class and a new cadet class. Law enforcement agencies from throughout the state send their new officers to the academy to train, and Lee said anywhere from 100 to 200 new officers who are not state troopers train at the academy. The 62nd cadet class, which graduates May 5 has 53 cadets in it, which Lee said is the largest class the agency has had in a long time. The West Virginia State Police currently has about 3,500 officers.

"We hope current members and civilian staff will take advantage of this to better their physical fitness," he said. "This was designed for everyone from a low level of fitness to those who are more advanced."

Cadets take part in several styles of circuit routines, and Lee pointed out that several thousands of dollars were saved by utilizing military surplus for many pieces of cardio equipment in the gym.

In total, Purdue Pharma money has added $5.5 million in renovations and additions to the academy, funds Lee said were "satisfying" to use, for everything from a new shooting range to new brick on each building on campus.

Purdue Pharma makes Oxycontin.

"The officers who brought that settlement about have done a lot of good for law enforcement in the state of West Virginia," he said.

A simulator that surrounds cadets with digital screens and plays out a wide variety of shooting scenarios was added with about $300,000 of Purdue Pharma funds.