CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A construction on the new $21 million police training academy at Del Mar College's Oso Creek campus, Corpus Christi Police Department Chief Mike Markle has high hopes for this building and the officers it trains.
The new building -- which is projected to last 50 years -- will include an auditorium, two large classrooms, a driving simulator, and a crime-scene training room amongst other things.
"We've never built a police academy from scratch in the history of Corpus Christi," he said.
He said the force has outgrown the current police academy on Corona Drive that was taken over in 1981, and he looks forward to moving into a facility four times larger than the current 8,000 sq. ft. building.
"Right now, our academy average is around 30, 35 cadets,” he said. “We've had them as large as 50. But we've had to stagger classes that really didn't work out in the small environment that we're in now.”
Markle wants the new police training academy to be more than a physically demanding environment – he's seeking academic credits in the curriculum.
"The answer is not to run out and arrest everyone,” Markle said. “You can't arrest anyone out of any issue. Our goal is to interact with our community, and be intelligent, problem-solving individuals."
Class sizes range from 35-50 trainees. In this new setting, recruitment remains his top priority, he said, only wanting the 'best of the best'.
"We usually have about 1,000 or so applicants, maybe a little more, up to 1,200 sometimes," he said. "So we stay very, very competitive. What I say all the time is that I'd rather carry a vacancy than a bad hire."
Markle said the force has added 54 officers over the past five years, to a budgeted staff of 501.
Construction is projected to be completed by the end of summer 2024.