Auburn police officers have practiced their shooting skills for years on the outdoor range on 15th Street Northwest at the base of the West Hill.
But as development creeps closer, residents are starting to complain about the noise.
Auburn is not the only city grappling with the central problem: keeping police skills sharp even as governments across the region place greater and greater limits on existing outdoor ranges.
“Some places are losing their ranges, or they are being restricted,” Auburn Police Chief Bob Lee told members of the Municipal Services Committee last week. “The Seattle Police Department has issues: some rounds have ended up on Associated Grocers outside the down range. We are trying to look at our options to see what’s out there.”
The solution could be a new regional, federal, state, county and city firing range, which the City is proposing to build on City-owned property at the GSA Region 10 facility on 15th Street Southwest.
It is casting a wide net to determine if potential regional partners exist and are willing to pool resources.
“We are talking about getting some of our money back. The key is to get enough partners to reduce our spending. That will be the point,” said Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis.
According to the proposal sent out, the City wants to work with partners to create a regional range “that will provide access to a range for the local Puget Sound that is now unavailable. Our law enforcement professionals are currently traveling as far as Yelm for firing range training. A centrally-located facility in South King County will provide more cost effective and time-efficient training while affording law enforcement officials an opportunity to continue their state-of-the-art training closer to their home base.”
Lee said there does seem to be some interest in regionalization in the area. He said that City chiefs in south King County have expressed interest and King County chiefs have put the proposal on their meeting agendas for December and January. Lee said Pierce County chiefs are expected to meet this week to talk about the proposal, and so were some of the federal agencies.
Fifty-seven law enforcement agencies are first responders to all criminal events and natural and man-made disasters affecting the citizens of King and Pierce County. The training mandates that officers must meet are extensive, performance based and demand specific resources to meet the performance objectives.
Auburn police play a vital role as a regional service provider by participating on the Valley Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT), the Valley Crisis Communications Unit (VCCU) the Valley Civil Disturbance Unit (VCDU) the Tacoma Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Valley Narcotics Enforcement Team. The proposal range would provide a facility to be used to conduct on-going training for SWAT, VCCU, VCDU, law enforcement officer weapons qualifications and defensive tactics training and tactical training.
The proposed facility would be equipped with:
• Indoor firearms ranges for up to 100 yards, which could include public access and use
• Live-fire training house with moveable partitions for scenario-based training
• Classrooms offering the latest in audio-video training technology
• Vehicle access for vehicular assault training.
Council member Rich Wagner has suggested forming a citizen committee to study the proposal.
