California Entrepreneur Seeks to Fund Construction of Police Training Facility

A billionaire real estate mogul in California's Silicon Valley is seeking to fund the construction of a police training facility in South San Jose.

According to the San Jose Mercury News , the 100,000-square-foot building—costing an estimated $43 million—would include a training area for current officers on one side, police academy rooms for incoming officers on another side and a basketball court in between. Behind the main building, the complex would feature an outdoor training field, a deck and an indoor shooting range.

The man behind the plan to build the complex is John Arrillaga, who submitted designs for the complex to the city in a closed-door meeting.

San Jose Public Works Director Matt Cano said, "If we were to buy a property and build it from scratch for ourselves, our budget would not be sufficient."

The city has earmarked $43 million for a police training facility from Measure T — a $650 million infrastructure bond measure passed by voters in November 2018.

The city currently runs its academy and training operations out of a 107,000-square-foot police substation in South San Jose at Great Oaks Boulevard and Brooklyn Avenue. The $82 million substation, which opened just a few years ago, was built with funding from another public safety bond measure approved by voters in 2002.

Local anti-police activists oppose spending money for a new police training facility.