An addition to the Dane County Law Enforcement Training Center is planned to bring the facility more in line with the modern world, accommodating more women deputies and different forms of training.

The Dane County Board has approved a bid for $246,518 from Tactical Design North of Milwaukee, an engineering and architectural firm, to design the training center addition at State Highway 19 in the Town of Westport.

The 12,000-square-foot add-on will make the facility more amenable to women, and include a lactation room, along with men’s and women’s lockers and showers, said Supervisor Dave Ripp, Dane County Board Supervisor and public works committee chair.

It will also include a gym, along with additional offices.

Sgt. Dennis Sierene, the training center’s facilities manager, said the addition also calls for a defense and tactics room. That room will be padded so the deputies can train more on tactics than in the current, smaller training room.

The design will also include a shoot house, where armed law enforcement can run through scenarios that include either simunition or paint balls, Sierene said, adding no actual live ammunition would be used in the exercises.

No changes are planned for the six outdoor shooting ranges, he said.

“I think it’s really important to focus on training, and this will help us improve our training, having an improved facility,” Sierene said.

Ripp described the plan as adjusting the building to “modern reality.”

The design will help the board...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiuQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5obmduZXdzLmNvbS93...