DLR Group has completed the design for Golden West College’s Criminal Justice Training Center located in Huntington Beach, California.

With the opening of the new Criminal Justice Training Center at Golden West College, municipal, county, and state law enforcement agencies in California now have a modern training center to better prepare their professionals for the physical and mental demands placed on officers every day. DLR Group’s design for this specialized facility provides enhanced academic and practical training experiences, and replaces a nearly 50-year-old building that could no longer meet the training needs for today and tomorrow’s peace officers.

Golden West College’s new Criminal Justice Training Center in Huntington Beach, California, serves up to 3,000 students per year, including recruits and current law enforcement personnel. The 39,000 SF, two-story facility features seven classrooms, locker rooms, training rooms, simulation labs, fitness lab, ready room, mat room, armory, scenario labs, and an administration suite and multi-purpose room.

Outdoor training spaces include a large concrete pad for drills and exercises called the grinder, a state mandated training biddle course with obstacles, running paths and wall scaling where all activities are timed, and a tactical scenario lab where realistic scenarios are replicated for rescues, hostage situations, and emergency vehicle response in both commercial and residential settings. A Force Options Training Lab presents trainees with a variety of situations where the use of force is possible, including shooting a gun, firing a Taser, using gas, or wielding a baton.

The $25 million facility, which was funded through the voter-approved Measure M, is the first college-based academy to be certified by the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.). It offers a 24-week long Regular Basic Course, a 17-week Special Investigators Basic Course, Continuing Professional Training courses, and houses a Leadership and Ethics Institute.

Architect: DLR Group
Contractor: Swinerton Builders
Photography: RMA Photography