South Texas College requested technical assistance to facilitate a planning meeting for a regional public safety training center. Pamela Cammarata was selected to fulfill the request, and facilitated the planning meeting on August 28-31, 2018. Ms. Cammarata will deliver a final report to South Texas College in September 2018.
The Rio Grande Valley is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas. It lies along the northern bank of the Rio Grande River, which separates Mexico from the United States. The four county region-county region, consisting of Hidalgo, Starr, Cameron and Willacy counties is one of the fastest growing places in the United States. From having 325,000 people in 1969 to over 1.3 million in 2014.
The Lower Rio Grande Workforce Board reported the law enforcement positions have increased by 45% from 6,879 in 2001 to 9,973 2016. This is approximately 55% above the national average. The dramatic growth has brought many challenges and opportunities in meeting the law enforcement occupation workforce needs in the region. In order to prepare for the law enforcement challenges, South Texas College in partnership with the City of Pharr, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District, have worked together in the development of a Master Plan to construct a Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence (RCPSE).
Based on the average job growth, it is anticipated the region will add 3,000 new law enforcement positions over the next 10 years. This does not include the 1,000 new positions in the US Customs and Border Protection agency. The college is in collaboration with all the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the development of the first community college “Regional Public Center for Public Safety Center” along the border.
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The economic future of the region depends on how well the world-class educational institutions develop, attract and retain talented individuals matched to the skills needed to sustain economic growth.
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South Texas College has created a website (southtexascollege.edu/RCPSE) for stakeholders and interested funding agency to access information about the RCPSE initiative. The information cited in the application is accessible through this portal. It includes information such as; Master Plan, Documents, Marketing Materials.
The goal of this project will be to develop a regional innovative training model that can be replicated in other regions along the border. The creation of an integrated Fire Science, Law Enforcement and Homeland Security training complex will provide and an opportunity for Texas to design a cross-functional training model that will maximize training resources at the local, state and federal level.