Ashley Chandler
Community Newspapers, Inc.
Just off County Road 108, a 40-acre plot of land is home to a training complex that remains under construction but is in use.
The county is constructing the Nassau County Public Safety Training Complex project in phases. The years-in-the-making complex is incomplete, but law enforcement already utilizes it to train. The gun ranges at the regional training complex were part of phase one and have been in use since the ribbon-cutting in summer 2022.
Nassau County Public Information Officer Sabrina Robertson said the new gun ranges have allowed the sheriff’s office to train more often and also has allowed for training of other law enforcement agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Customs and Border Patrol, Blount Island Police Department, CSX Police, retired law enforcement and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers.
Phase two of the project – a training classroom building, parking lot and storage – is almost complete, and the BOCC has moved into phase three with the approval of a grant that will partially fund the addition of a K-9 Unit Training Facility.
“Having a new, state-of-the-art facility will be very beneficial,” Robertson said. “It will provide public safety personnel an adequate space for training in both a classroom setting and areas where they can participate in mock events to help them prepare for future incidents.”
She said the complex also will provide a space where local, state and federal law enforcement agencies can come together for training to “practice realistic events that require a multi-jurisdictional response.”
The county has said the complex will address the growing public safety needs that are expected to accompany the rapidly-growing population in Nassau County.
The county hosted a ribbon cutting event in July 2022 to celebrate the completion of phase one.
At the ribbon cutting, Sheriff Bill Leeper said, “This new gun range will allow Nassau County Sheriff's Office deputies to train better, train smarter and train more often. We will also be able to train with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. This is a professional range, one that is compliant with the criminal justice standards and training commission and one our deputies can be proud of.”
County leaders have given credit to Leeper for the idea to bring a public-safety training complex to Nassau County.
Robertson said phase two is 99% complete, and contractor Sauer Construction is just working on “punch-list items.”
“The new classroom building that is under construction is the key piece of this training complex and will allow NCSO to move all training to one location and will also house NCSO’s training division personnel,” Robertson said. “This facility will provide training in classroom settings, allow simulator driver training and also house a firearms/de-escalation simulator for officer-public scenarios. It also has a mat room in order for NCSO to provide physical hands-on training.”
Robertson said the first two phases focused on law enforcement while “future phases will also support fire and rescue and other local public safety needs of the county.”
She said future improvements “may eventually include a fire training tower, burn building and additional classrooms,” that Nassau County Fire Rescue could use for training as well.
The K-9 Unit Regional Training Facility will most likely be the next addition to the complex. In September, the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners received a $400,000 Florida Department of Law Enforcement Grant Award to go toward constructing the facility. Though there is no match required, the grant was less than half of what the county originally requested to design and construct the facility. The county said the grant would cover design and sitework only.
The county has said the facility would include a canine training and tracking area with kennels.
Robertson said the design firm, Pond & Company, created plans based on “preliminary conceptual design” and the county expects the design to be completed in late August or early September. Currently, the county does not have any funds dedicated for the K-9 training facility.