Police Training Institute

Founded in 1955, the Police Training Institute is the only state-funded police training institute in Illinois. Chartered to standardize training of the state's police forces, the Institute replaced the time-honored tradition of training new recruits on-the-job. The Institute provides a 12-week 480-hour training program 8 times a year, training 4,000 recruits each year. [1]

Through its nearly 50 year tenure, the Institute has inhabited several buildings, including the third floor of Illini Hall in 1978. [2] Today, it is spread across three main campuses: the Administration and Training Center, the Experiential Training Center, and the Willard Aviation Training Center. The Administration and Training Center is housed in the former Granada Club House, a 1920-era [3] men's student housing building [4] that was a hub of social activity. [5] Counted among its alums are Hugh Heffner, Alex Agase, and Allan Sherman, [6] who wrote the song "Hello , Mudder; hello, Fadder, here I am at Camp Granada" based on his experiences there. The University purchased the building in 1988 and the building was rededicated as the Police Training Institute on July 2, 1990. [7]

The Experiential Training Center is a 7-acre training site, complete with "five-story tower with climbing wall, rappel sites, and a zip line [along with] 12 ground based teambuilding and problem solving initiatives as well as a complete high ropes center". [8]

The Willard Aviation Training Center contains a mock urban street environment allowing officers to train on real-life dispatch calls, as well as practice such skills as "approach/deployment, entry and search, and accident investigation". [9]