Today, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) toured the WSCJTC Southwest Washington regional law enforcement training academy to see firsthand how the academy operates and the benefits regional academies bring to local police departments.

During the visit, she spoke with recruits and officers, visited Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) and Corrections classrooms, and toured the facility. This year, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez held a childcare roundtable with first responders and went on ride-alongs with the Woodland and Vancouver Police Departments.

The BLEA is the state’s mandated training academy for all entry-level officers in the state and began being offered at the Vancouver location in January. In years prior, recruited officers would have to travel to Burien for the program for months-long courses, making recruitment more difficult, especially for parents.

The training academy is reducing barriers for Southwest Washington departments to recruit and train officers, while Washington state has the lowest number of law enforcement officers per capita in the nation.

“Having accessible training for aspiring law enforcement officers is an important part of making these careers accessible to parents and keeping our small, rural departments fully staffed and responsive. Southwest Washington’s new law enforcement training academy is an important step toward reducing recruitment roadblocks, and I’m glad I could visit to see their incredible work,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “Our communities are safer with well-trained officers on the streets – especially as we continue to fight the impacts of fentanyl – so I’ll keep working in Congress to invest in the resources, training, and support first responders need to stay safe in their difficult jobs.”

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez introduced the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act to help small police departments access funding for training, hiring and retention. She helped introduce bipartisan legislation to support grants for recruiting and training officers and expand access to the program in rural communities. The Congresswoman also introduced the bipartisan Streamlining Federal Grants Act to make it easier for small and rural departments to apply for resources.

The Congresswoman is working to fight the flow of fentanyl across our Southern Border that is making the work of first responders more difficult. She cosponsored the FEND Off Fentanyl and END FENTANYL Acts in the House, which are now law to target fentanyl traffickers and fight fentanyl smuggling at ports of entry. She also supports increased funding for the Byrne JAG and COPS grants that support local law enforcement departments.