The City University of New York Public Safety Training Academy now has a brand-new site to call home in Jamaica.
The CUNY safety officers celebrated on March 13, the ribbon cutting of their new state-of-the-art facility in the Gertz Plaza Mall, 92-31 Union Hall St., 7th Floor, Jamaica. The new office consists of smart room technology classrooms, locker rooms, an all-purpose gymnasium and administrative offices. It can accommodate the increased number of NYC agencies for which the academy now provides training.
CUNY Public Safety Training Academy was established in 2002 at Lehman College/CUNY by University Director of Public Safety William Barry with the support of Allan Dobrin, CUNY executive vice chancellor and COO, and Dave Fields, senior university dean/special counsel to the chancellor, to train the 500 peace officers then employed by CUNY.
In 2004, the academy moved to York College/CUNY in Jamaica, Queens, close to a major transportation hub accessed by the LIRR, major subway lines, NYC buses and the Van Wyck Expressway. There, the academy expanded to train the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation’s 650 peace officers.
Each year the academy trains over 2,500 officers in over 100 topics mandated by the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services, and the new upgrade to their own facility will help them to continue to accommodate the growing number of candidates.
They now offer five NYS-certified training programs that consist of recruit training for CUNY, the NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation, the Brooklyn Public Library, the NYS Liquor Authority, the Administration of Children Services and the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
They also provide Department of Criminal Justice-mandated, in-service training for those agencies as well as for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz joined the academy at the ribbon cutting and was delighted to see the new facility.
“The academy’s new location in the Gertz Plaza Mall is a modern and spacious facility that will help ensure those trained there will receive the best possible preparation for the public safety duties they will be carrying out,” Katz said. “The new facility is a welcome addition to the up- and-coming Jamaica neighborhood.”
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