A STATE-of-the-art police college will allow for greater joint training involving the PSNI and the Garda, according to the deputy chief constable of the PSNI Judith Gillespie.
The formal approval for the building of the £139 million PSNI and prison and fire services training college at Desertcreat near Cookstown, Co Tyrone, has been announced by Stormont Ministers David Ford and Edwin Poots.
The North’s Department of Finance has approved the business case for Desertcreat and within the next six months a full planning application will be lodged and a tendering process for building the college will get under way. Work is due to start on the greenfield site in 2013, with the college due to be completed two years later.
“Our police officers, prison officers and fire fighters put their lives on the line for people across Northern Ireland daily and they deserve training facilities of the highest quality,” said justice Minister Mr Ford.
Public safety Minister Mr Poots added: “By integrating and sharing facilities, it is hoped that Desertcreat college will develop best practice in training, technology, sustainability and ecology, so that the college will become recognised as a world class partnership training environment.”
Ms Gillespie said that the “training which will be provided at Desertcreat will provide us with the best possible public services which in turn will help make Northern Ireland a safer and more secure place for everyone”.
She said the police training element of the college would not be solely for the PSNI, stating that forces such as the Garda, British police force, the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had expressed interest in using the modern facility.
