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The Minneapolis City Council is set to vote Thursday on funding for a new police and emergency responder training facility. 

A proposal before the council would allocate close to $5.6 million to acquire land for the facility. The money would come out of other parts of the city budget, including animal control and traffic safety. 

During a council committee meeting Tuesday, supporters of the funding said it’s a needed upgrade to the city’s public safety facilities. 

“It should be everyone’s priority,” council member LaTrisha Vetaw said. “We should want our emergency teams to be trained and to have room for growth, not just what’s happening right now.” 

In a presentation to the council Tuesday, city staff said current training facilities are too small and would be difficult to upgrade. The proposed new site — a 4.7-acre property in the Windom neighborhood of south Minneapolis — would include training spaces for all community safety departments, including police and fire, and wellness services. 

Several council members opposed to the facility said they would rather see the city make do with existing training spaces, or partner with other facilities around the metro area to train outside the city. 

Council member Robin Wonsley said she would rather put that city money toward other projects.

“This is not a need,” Wonsley said. “We could be doing so many more things, and that’s the conversation that I want to have.” 

The council cut short a discussion on the issue Tuesday, voting to pick it up again at its meeting Thursday.

As proposed, the facility would cost about $38 million total, including the purchase of the land. The city would seek additional funding from the state for the project.

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Estelle Timar-Wilcox

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The Minneapolis City Council is set to vote Thursday on funding for a new police and emergency responder training facility. 


Minneapolis City Council to vote on funding for police training site

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