Buffalo is Spending $5 Million on This

As residents of New York State's second largest city get ready to prepare for a massive increase in the taxes and fees due to a large shortfall in the city's bank account, some members of the local government are looking to spend quite a bit of taxpayer money on the redevelopment of a former city community center.

Members and management within the Buffalo Police Department have complained for quite a while about the condition of their facilities and the need for the local government to provide better conditions for officer training and education. To help make that happen, the city of Buffalo has started moving forward with plans to construct a new facility for the police department.

However, given the current condition of the city's finances, many residents are asking if this is the right time to turn a former community center into what many are calling a cop city.

Buffalo is Spending $5 Million on This

The city of Buffalo currently spends more than 1/6th of its total budget on the Police Department, and if current plans move forward as is, the city will spend at least another $5 million for a new police training facility on Buffalo's east side.

According to Buffalo Rising, the city's new police training facility, which would be built inside the former Matt Urban Hope Center on Paderewski Drive, would be a combination shooting range for officers and a training headquarters. The original plans called for the facility to be built on Seneca Street, but that was changed to Paderewski Drive by city officials.

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Since the news broke that Buffalo was looking to take this old community center and make it a training center for law enforcement, protests against it have been growing. Dozens of people appeared at a recent Buffalo Common Council meeting to express their disapproval of the facility.

There is a case for building the training center, as city officials currently pay other departments more than $200,000 annually so city officers can use their shooting ranges and facilities.

Time will tell what will happen as the city looks to fill large holes in its budget this year.