The Los Angeles Police Department’s police academy boasts having one of the largest and most ground-breaking police training programs in the world. The LAPD Academy training program is 28 weeks of classroom work dedicated to studying law and the Spanish language, writing reports and learning human relations skills. The facility occupies the 21-acre Elysian Park complex and houses classrooms, an athletic field and track, firing range, obstacle course, and a gymnasium in a scenic locale that features waterfalls, pine tree, fountains and flowerbeds. Cadets are trained in driving, firearms, police tactics and self-defense as well as a rigorous physical fitness regime.
New York City’s probationary firefighter must complete a rigorous 13-week course at the Fire Department of New York Fire Academy, located on 27 acres of land on Randall's Island close to the Triboro Bridge. The facility sports a training tower resembling a brick building for rope rescue training, aerial ladders for ascending and descending, parade grounds, a running track and classrooms where recruits learn fire suppression systems, hydraulics and emergency medicine.
Following 9/11, the Miami Police Department built the Miami Police College, a singularly distinctive facility that offers basic training to Miami police recruits as well as those from surrounding communities. Additionally, the college houses the School of Professional Development, which offers advanced training for police from Miami and the region, and the International Institute for Democratic Policing, which centers on police training for students from the Caribbean and Latin America. Housed in a four-story, 112,264 square-foot building, facilities include 11 classrooms, a state-of-the-art firearms range, an NCAA-certified gym, a defensive tactics gym, a 250-seat theater and a Meggitt© Training Simulator that allows instructors to create a wide range of scenarios.
Some cities find that combined facilities cut costs while increasing training opportunities. For example, the City and County of Denver and its neighboring city of Aurora share a fire training facility on eight acres of land. The administrative building houses classrooms and a workout facility that features a variety of body-building and cardiovascular equipment. Firefighters train on several types of fire trucks and aerial equipment as well as conduct live fire drills in a concrete tower, a mock apartment/motel building, burning vehicles and other simulations.
With much of the state rural and widespread, the primary law enforcement training facility in Idaho is the Idaho Peace Officer Standards & Training facility on a 43-acre site that features large auditorium classrooms and computer labs with state-of-the-art equipment. The classrooms feature law enforcement satellite broadcasts, video studio and editing rooms, and other leading edge technologies. There is a 10-acre emergency driving site, dorms, and a firearms range as well as a weight room, gym, swimming pool and cafeteria.