Georgia Public Safety Training Center turns 30

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Attorney General Chris Carr are expected to take the first laps Saturday on a new precision driving course at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.

Each will have a chance behind the wheel to test the course following an official ribbon cutting, said Sabrina Kimbrell, a spokeswoman for the training center.

The opening of the new course is part of a day-long event for public safety personnel commemorating 30 years of training offered at the center.

“It is very exciting to witness the continuous growth of the training center, and I look forward to the day GPSTC is not only the premiere training facility for Georgia, but for the entire nation,” Chris Wigginton, the center’s director, said in a news release.

More than 1,500 public safety personnel have preregistered for the event, which is closed to the public, Kimbrell said.

Also, about 120 of the top public safety manufacturers from across the country are expected to be on hand to showcase their products, she said.

Live public safety demonstrations include a GBI bomb detonation, a mock vehicle-structure crash with live fire and victims entrapped and the precision immobilization technique used to force a fleeing motorist off the road.

Fort Valley police Chief Lawrence Spurgeon has nothing but praise for the center.

“I think we have one of the best training centers in the United States,” Spurgeon said. “I’ve traveled all over the southeast, at least, training in different locations, and I know for a fact that the professionalism exhibited by the training staff up there — I know some of them personally — is above par.

“I know that some of the equipment that we have is the best in the nation, and I would compare our training to anybody in the United States,” he said.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Georgia Public Safety Training Center turns 30."