New facility will offer centralized public safety training

Public safety training in Manitoba will see a new chapter unfold in early 2015 with the opening of a new training facility in Brandon.

ACC has announced plans to establish the ACC Public Safety Training Centre (PSTC) at the college’s Victoria Avenue East Campus.

The centre will be the first space of its scale in Manitoba, bringing together a variety of training and simulation elements into a single environment.

• Scenario-based and tactical training exercises
• Physical defence training
• Training involving public and commercial vehicles
• Classroom study, lectures and private debriefing
• High-risk extraction exercises

“Our college is committed to being a leader in public safety programming here in Manitoba,” said Karen Hargreaves, Dean of Health and Human Services at ACC. “The formation of this centre is a progressive move for us and one that clearly identifies what we see as our continued role in advancing public safety education.”

Justice and public safety organizations from throughout the province and across Canada will be able to book the facility for group training, simulations and cross-discipline mock exercises.

The ACC PSTC will also be fundamental in providing valuable opportunities to the college’s Police Studies students, allowing them to learn through practical, hands-on situations with modern equipment in an advanced training environment.

“There is certainly potential here to extend the use of the space to supplement learning in a few different programs,” said Wayne Jacobsen, Chair of Police Studies at ACC. “Our Interactive Media Arts students could be placed in media exercises alongside Police Studies students, offering realistic scenarios that simulate the dynamic between the two groups in high-pressure situations.”

The centre is under development and scheduled to be up and running in January 2015. ACC is now accepting bookings from agencies involved in public safety training.