Political support grows for reopening Yuba Police Academy

Political support is mounting locally for Yuba College to reopen its dormant police academy, but college officials are now saying that community desire alone may not be enough to resurrect the training program.

It may take money that nobody appears to have, according to college Chancellor Douglas Houston.

Houston late last week said there are also financial forces at work that will be part of the equation that eventually decides the fate of the police academy.

Last month, Houston announced the college would take the unusual step of conducting its own survey to determine what the chancellor called "the issue of need."

"The survey or study will project where there is a real hiring need in our area, as well as demand," Houston explained. "However, apart from that, we will have to determine if that need is perhaps greater than we have the (financial) capacity to support."

Pointing to an overall 13 percent funding reduction at the college over the last two years, Houston said the financial question of reopening the academy would be weighed against the need and desire for other academic programs.

"We will have to deliberately evaluate which programs will have the higher priority," Houston said.

Concern over future

While it is no secret that community colleges have lost signi icant funding in recent years, many Yuba-Sutter residents and institutions, including the Yuba County Board of Supervisors, are growingly increasingly concerned with the academy being in perpetual limbo.

Houston said all options would be studied, including moving the academy from Yuba to the district's Woodland Community College or splitting one training program between both campuses.

But that was not something that many Yuba County residents were pleased to hear, having already firmly committed to a police academy to the tune of a $20 million investment in a new facility, which opened in August.

"I believe the best idea is to have the academy in Yuba County rather than Yolo County," said Andy Vasquez, a Yuba County supervisor.

Vasquez is a former Yuba County sheriff's reserve deputy and a graduate of the academy at Yuba College. The supervisor said the board is currently working on a resolution stating its unanimous support to reopen the police academy.

"Both the college and the academy have been great assets to our community," Vasquez said.

Shuttered in 2009, the academy has since endured repeated delays and mixed messages from Yuba College officials and the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, and exactly what it would take to reopen the facility remains unclear.

Cadets, stores hurt

Many local residents are gearing up to fight for the reopening and in the wake of formal political support from the county Board of Supervisors and stated support from at least some of the Yuba College trustees, and several would-be cadets are hoping to get the ball rolling.

For students like Bryan Barber, the academy cannot reopen soon enough. Barber, 33, was one of many Yuba cadets whose training was interrupted by the closure.

"It's hugely frustrating because it's been years now and still nobody really knows what's going on," Barber said. "I'm not the only one, either — a lot of people bought supplies and then they just all of a sudden shut it down."

Barber said the uniforms and books he purchased cannot be used at another academy.

"A lot of people were just out a lot of money," Barber said. "It really hurt a lot of people."

And Yuba cadets and instructors were not the only people affected by the closure.

Local uniform and firearms supply stores took massive financial hits as a result.

Tom King of T. J. North Uniform Store in Marysville refunded more than $30,000 in uniforms and supplies to cadets immediately after the shutdown in hopes of recouping the money when the academy reopened. King has since been forced to lay off one employee.

He said that, if the academy does not reopen, it could potentially ruin his business.

"If it doesn't come back, that would probably drive me completely out of the uniform business," King said.

Grace Hessong of Action Uniforms in Yuba City said her business has also been hit hard since 2009. Hessong has laid off three employees.

"It's not all because of the academy, but it certainly had a major impact," Hessong said.

Roy Whiteaker, owner of Guns and Ammo in Yuba City, also acknowledged a significant sales slump as a result of the academy shutdown.

And while the closure has had major financial consequences for some local businesses, it may take more money to reopen than the college can afford, Houston said.

"Unless local and municipal law enforcement agencies can pay us to fund the academy, that program will have to compete for funding with all of our programs and the students that need those programs, too," Houston said.

The chancellor said he has directed his staff to reach out to local law enforcement agencies to set up meetings addressing all of the various issues, but said no dates have been set.

"There's just still a lot we still have to do before we know how we're going to proceed," he said.

CONTACT Rob Parsons at rparsons@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4785.