FLETC Opens New $34 Million Dormitory

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Director Connie Patrick officially opened a new dormitory during a ribbon cutting ceremony held at the FLETC Charleston site September 27.

More than 100 FLETC and Partner Organizations staff, community members, elected officials and congressional staffers attended the morning ceremony. The new facility provides much needed long-term housing for the thousands of federal law enforcement officers and agents who attend the FLETC training site each year.

“This 400-room dormitory along the historic Cooper River will ensure our students have the best possible learning environment as they prepare to protect our homeland,” said FLETC Director Patrick. “Using innovative design techniques, the project team not only saved money, but also enabled future savings by using energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly design elements.”

Based on many of the innovative design elements of the 141,185 square-foot building, it received the LEED-Silver certification. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized “green” building certification system. LEED-Silver is the second tier of the four-level certification system.

The design-build team of Jacobs Engineering Group and Korte Construction Company, both of St. Louis, Mo., constructed the five-story dormitory. The facility’s amenities include both indoor and outdoor recreational areas, a laundry room and a dedicated study room. 

Situated on the site of the former Charleston Naval Base, the FLETC Charleston is one of three FLETC residential training sites in the United States. The FLETC Charleston is also the home of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (MLEA), the U.S. Courts’ Federal Probation and Pretrial Services Academy, and the dedicated training sites for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. 

The FLETC serves as an interagency law enforcement training organization for 90 federal agencies. In addition, the organization provides training to state, local, campus, tribal and international law enforcement agencies. During FY 2010, over 65,000 students trained at the FLETC. Since its inception in 1970, nearly 940,000 law enforcement officers and agents have been trained at the largest law enforcement training organization in the country.

Headquartered on a 1,600-acre campus in Glynco, Ga., the FLETC also operates facilities in Artesia, N.M.; Charleston, S.C.; and Cheltenham, Md. Additionally, the FLETC has oversight responsibility on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security for the International Law Enforcement Academy at Gaborone, Botswana and assists in the management of the ILEA in Bangkok, Thailand; and supports training at each of these ILEAs, as well as the ILEA in Budapest, Hungary, and El Salvador, San Salvador.

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