$8M donation will help build Las Vegas Valley police facility

A Las Vegas foundation has donated $8 million to help build a new police training facility, part of construction on the renovated, multijurisdictional facility in the northeast valley announced about a year ago.

The Engelstad Foundation, a charitable organization founded in Las Vegas, gave the money to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Foundation. The funds will help build the Reality Based Training Center, the $25 million phase one of construction on the Nevada Joint Training Facility, according to a press release.

Reality-based training is designed to place officers in situations mimicking a variety of events including “high profile scenarios and, in particular, active shooter situations,” the police foundation said.

When the training facility was announced in May 2018, officials said that while the project was not initiated because of the Route 91 attack, the mass shooting solidified the need for the facility.

“The events of 1 October and other mass casualty events around the world have been and should be a wake-up call for emergency responders everywhere,” Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said last year. “We must constantly strive to be a step ahead of those who wish to do harm in our communities.”

While Metro and the North Las Vegas Police Department are spearheading the project, the Metro foundation is trying to secure the $25 million needed for the reality-based training facility, the foundation said.

The entire project, estimated to cost about $46 million, will be located at the John T. Moran Firearms Facility site at 7600 E .Carey Ave., officials said last year.

A Metro foundation spokesman said the donation for the reality-based training facility will not be used to expand the current firearms facility, but rather to create a new building adjacent to the current one.

The new training center will be made up of two buildings, the foundation said. The first will contain classrooms, simulators and office space, while the second building is set to include an indoor, climate-controlled tactical “training village” that will simulate a variety of environments, including casinos.

Officials in May 2018 said agencies expected to use the facility include Metro, North Las Vegas police, Henderson Police Department, Nevada Highway Patrol, the Gaming Control Board and the FBI.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.