{"id":28847,"date":"2023-10-02T10:48:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T17:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28847"},"modified":"2023-10-02T10:48:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T17:48:10","slug":"police-playground-opposition-grows-to-44-million-regional-training-facility-and-hq-in-san-pablo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/10\/02\/police-playground-opposition-grows-to-44-million-regional-training-facility-and-hq-in-san-pablo\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Police playground:\u2019 Opposition grows to $44 million regional training facility and HQ in San Pablo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Protestors plan to rally Saturday near the project site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The new, $43.6 million San Pablo Police Department Headquarters and Regional Training Center project is proposed for 1050 Gateway Ave., located directly across the street from City Hall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0KATIE LAUER<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0klauer@bayareanewsgroup.com<\/a>\u00a0| Bay Area News Group (eastbaytimes.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PUBLISHED: September 30, 2023 at 6:05 a.m. | UPDATED: October 2, 2023 at 10:06 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAN PABLO \u2014 A $43.6 million law enforcement regional training center and new police headquarters is coming to San Pablo, a largely low-income, Hispanic and aging enclave<\/a> in West Contra Costa County home to roughly 31,000 residents and 62 sworn officers \u2014 and not everyone is happy about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Contra Costa County Sheriff\u2019s Office, San Pablo is the most policed city<\/a> in the county, relative to its population. Now after quietly slogging through more than three years of planning, construction on this project \u2014 one of the largest in city history \u2014 is scheduled to start in October, despite growing controversy and public protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed two-story, 42,000-square-foot facility is slated for a vacant city-owned lot on Gateway Avenue, replacing the city\u2019s current police department headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development promises to attract law enforcement agencies from across the Bay Area and alternative public safety organizations, such as Contra Costa County\u2019s mental health crisis programs. It features a host of onsite amenities, including a drone work area, virtual reality simulator, training classrooms, fitness rooms, kennels for police dogs and a 20-lane indoor shooting range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local police praise the new complex for its expected ability to provide \u201cprogressive, modern\u201d trainings, which they say will attract new, much-needed business revenue to cash-strapped San Pablo. But opponents argue that the project squanders millions of dollars that could help reduce crime by funding other community-based initiatives, rather than further militarizing a city that\u2019s already over-policed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re trying to improve public safety and reduce crime, one of the greatest ways to ensure that is to invest in the people of San Pablo \u2014 making sure that they have secure housing, secure jobs, healthcare and social services,\u201d said James Burch, with Oakland\u2019s Anti Police-Terror Project, an activist organization that works to reduce community reliance on local law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burch dubbed the project a \u201c$43 million police playground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, organizers of an East Bay-based Stop Cop Campus coalition<\/a> announced they will rally at Kennedy Plaza at 3 p.m., before marching along San Pablo Avenue toward the project site. Small groups of protesters \u2014 primarily made up of young people of color, including some connected to Richmond High School \u2014 started marching and posting criticism of the project online in July. Pushback against the development has grown since then, especially as social media connected local organizers with activists across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarities are already being drawn between San Pablo\u2019s facility and the $90 million, 85-acre \u201cCop City\u201d<\/a> development in Atlanta, Georgia. While attention to these kinds of police campuses is still growing, Burch said many local community members are wary of internal training programs. Specifically, he cited Urban Shield, a globally known SWAT training program, first responder demonstration and weapons expo organized by the Alameda County Sheriff\u2019s Department, which attracted groups like the Oath Keepers and featured vendors promoting violent, racist slogans prior to being discontinued in 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis type of investment increases the culture of violence that leads to law enforcement using their weapons to maim and kill civilians,\u201d Burch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Pablo Police Capt. Brian Bubar said the project is \u201cfirst and foremost\u201d an attempt to house all department operations under one roof after it outgrew its current space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While statistics of violent and property crimes in San Pablo have consistently trended downward in the last decade, he said the department is responding to the community\u2019s \u201chuge concern, feeling and sensation that crime is going up.\u201d Bubar said the department is open to dialogue about police militarization<\/a>, but local perspectives will continue driving the department\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur community has explicitly told us and our city leadership that they do not want to take part in any defunding of the police department,\u201d Bubar said, pointing to a 2022 city poll that found 81% support for a new police department building, despite the costs. \u201cWe want to make sure that we\u2019re preparing them to be ready to make those decisions in the community. I think we\u2019re doing a good job now, but this facility will make it easier, more cost effective and we\u2019ll be able to deliver that training on a much more frequent basis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A groundbreaking planned in early August was delayed by \u201coperational concerns and logistics,\u201d according to remarks from City Manager Matt Rodriguez during a City Council meeting<\/a> last month. He did not elaborate further, and it\u2019s unclear whether any ceremony will be rescheduled, especially amid ongoing pushback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, the San Pablo City Council approved a $38.4M contract with Overaa Construction Co. to oversee this development, located on 2.27 acres directly across the street from San Pablo City Hall. However, the city ultimately approved three total funding sources to cover projected shortfalls and contingency costs \u2014 bumping the budget up to $43.6 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, the city will tap more than $28.8 million from lease revenue bonds, $4.3 million from American Rescue Act funds received for COVID-19 relief and $10.4 million from the city\u2019s general fund reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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