HPD to get indoor firing range
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
After about 20 years of waiting, the Honolulu Police Department will finally get an indoor firing range sometime within the next two years.
The city has allocated $5.9 million for construction of the state's first indoor police gun shooting range at the police training center in Waipahu. Currently, officers use the outdoor Koko Head Shooting Complex, which is available only two days a week, limiting training opportunities.
Police began requesting an indoor firing range in the 1980s. Plans for the facility have been in the city's budget since 1998, when it spent $451,000 for design and planning of the facility.
Four years later that design was revamped to make the firing range more cost-effective. But the change in design cost the city $225,000 more.
The new firing range meets the needs of a growing force of about 2,000 officers, including recruits, said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.
"Primarily it would increase the training opportunities for officers in that they could use the indoor firing range 24-7 versus the outdoor firing range, which could only be used during daylight hours," Yu said.
The city plans to start construction on the 22,000-square-foot facility by the end of the year. Construction probably will take about 18 months, though the city hopes to complete it sooner.
"We want to expedite the completion of this very important and much-needed facility," said city Managing Director Ben Lee.
According to Lee, safety and sound-proofing requirements, which also include ventilation to take care of gunpowder accumulation, drove the cost up.
"Firing ranges have pretty high-end requirements in terms of safety," Lee said.
He said the complicated design along with a lack of construction money delayed the project.
The firing range will include 30 lanes, a classroom, repair shop and storage.
An indoor range will make it easier for officers to qualify for weapon proficiency, officers say. Right now training is dependent on the weather at the Koko Head Shooting Complex, the only firing range in the state.
The Koko Head facility is able to accommodate training each officer and new recruits in only one live-fire exercise annually, said Assistant Chief Karl Godsey. That's the minimum standard around the country, he added.
Typically, departments train officers to qualify for four weapon training sessions a year, Godsey said.
The Koko Head Shooting Complex is open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and open only to police officers on Mondays and Tuesdays, all day until 9 p.m.
The department also is awaiting a classroom building at the Koko Head facility to supplement the training.
Recently, the plan for a temporary building at Koko Head costing about $750,000 was presented to the community for approval, and Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board members gave their unanimous support.
Police say they have sought the building for eight years. But city spokeswoman Carol Costa questioned whether it had actually been submitted for the budget that long ago.
Costa said the project has received financing from the Department of Design and Construction operating budget to initiate a planning study. About $79,000 is being used to do the work to obtain permits for the project.
"(The classroom project) is moving forward in the process right now, but there is no formal request for it," she said.
Staff writers Suzanne Roig and Eloise Aguiar contributed to this report. Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
