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New MTA police dog facility opens in StormvilleCBS Local
Johnny and Pimpinelli are just one of the MTA’s 50 police dog teams that train at the new center. After four years of construction, the Stormville center was completed last November, and officially opened Wednesday.
“This building was pretty much thought about the day after 9/11. We saw a need for it, and knew what was going to happen,” said MTA police Lt. John Kerwick.
A Metro-North rail line cuts through the center's 72-acre property, key for facilitating track-related training, Kerwick said. The property also houses an outdoor agility course, a number of MTA buses, cars, and the MTA train car that dogs like Johnny use to practice detecting explosives.
Inside the center are various training rooms that mock terminals and storage areas, as well as 26 kennels with heated floors and access to an outdoor area for each dog.
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MTA Opens State-Of-The-Art K-9 Training CenterThis site has a nice slide show: MSN.com
“Our top priority at the MTA is ensuring public safety,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast. “In our post 9/11 world, the MTAPD’s specialized Canine Unit is a crucial component of the MTA’s overall security strategy. The canine training center will help the MTA honor its commitment to maintain the highest levels of safety and protection for customers, employees and system infrastructure.”
“Everything about this sophisticated, 17,000-square-foot facility was designed to train dogs to meet the unique demands of patrolling the MTA’s railroads, stations, subways, platforms and buses, making it the only state-of-the-art mass transit-specific canine training center in the nation,” said MTAPD Chief of Police, Michael Coan.
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On the site are two retired Metro North train cars, nine former city buses, and an open field all meant to imitate real life scenarios to prepare the dogs for future law enforcement missions.
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