Two police officers weave through a crowded backyard party, bypassing groups of costumed partygoers around a bonfire.
In a shadowy corner of the yard, a man in a Jason hockey mask lurks, holding a gun loosely at his side.
“But we’re at a Halloween party,” an instructor said, “so is it a real gun?”
The party was a training simulation on five, floor-to-ceiling screens, arranged in a semicircle to create a virtual reality. A cluster of projectors and motion sensors hung from the low ceiling and plywood boards blocked light from wide windows lining one wall.
The high-tech setup was jerry-rigged in a classroom in the former Seatack Elementary School constructed in 1952.
It’s just one of several rooms designed for children that have been adapted for the Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Training Academy. After 24 years, the academy is poised to get its own facility.
Plans for the new building, which is estimated to cost $82 million, strained an already overtaxed city Capital Improvement Projects budget. The idea has been discussed since 2018 and was requested but not included in last year’s CIP. This year, the council made it a priority.
“They deserve investment from the city that is in line with their commitment. We cannot continue to place LETA at the back of the line,” Councilmember Michael Berlucchi said at a January retreat. He coined the phrase “We needa LETA” that caught on in budget discussions since.
The budget proposal for the next fiscal year, introduced earlier this week, creates a new Major Projects fund to direct money toward priority items, including the academy.
Seatack Elementary was one of the first schools for Black students in Princess Anne County. It was integrated in 1971 and moved to a new building in 2000. The training academy took up residence the year after. It was only meant to be temporary, and at the time, it was a big step up from the portable classrooms that housed the academy.
“Grass was actually growing through the floor,” said Captain Pete Koepp, who oversees the police academy.
Now, the academy has outgrown the building.
There’s not enough room for the police and Sheriff's deputy trainees who learn there, nor instructional staff offices or other workshops the academy hosts. The auditorium is too small for graduations. Exercise equipment fills the gym and spills over into a few classrooms on the other side of the building. The school is prone to flooding.
The city’s Public Works department developed a concept for a new building and presented it to council recently. The two-story complex would have separate wings for physical fitness and instruction.
“There are different philosophies on training police officers,” Koepp said. “Some are very militaristic, some are very academic. What we are striving to do is a marriage of both.”
Trainees learn policies, procedures and law while practicing hand-to-hand combat, weapons handling and driving maneuvers.
The current academy has a Wall of Honor in its front lobby, commemorating officers who died in the line of duty. The new design expands that into a memorial garden. The building diagram labels the areas dedicated to “mind, body and spirit” to reflect the training philosophy.
“I think we get well-rounded officers by doing it that way,” Koepp said.
However, the blueprints are just drafts. A location hasn’t been selected and it will impact the plans. The official design phase is estimated to take 18 months. Construction might begin 8 to 10 months later and take 24 to 30 months. It may take five years to open the academy.
This year’s budget proposal allocates $8.7 million to design and notes construction costs will be incorporated in future budgets.
The simulation in the classroom pauses on the brink of action. The man in the mask waits. The officers don’t move. Whatever can happen next appears as a list of options on the instructor’s computer screen: real gun, fake gun, suspect complies, suspect hostile.
The academy's next steps rely on the council’s vote on the proposal in May.
“We will always be able to make do with what we have,” Koepp said. “I think there’s value in a new building, I think we can take our training to the next level with more space and the opportunity to bring new technology in.
“If we can do that, I think we can put better officers on the street for the future of our city.”
