Gilbert Highet wrote in The Art of Teaching that “Wherever there are beginners and experts, old and young, there is some kind of learning going on, and some sort of teaching. We are all pupils and we are all teachers.” That certainly describes the philosophy behind a new multiagency training facility in Arizona.

The Glendale Regional Public Safety Training Center has been a unique venture for the city. Its acronym, GRPSTC, also could represent Greater Regional Partnering for a Successful Training Center. The regional partnership began in the late 1970s during the development of the Phoenix Regional Automatic Aid System under the leadership of Chief Alan Brunacini (Ret.) and included the Avondale, Peoria, Glendale and Surprise fire departments; Glendale Police Department; and the Maricopa County Community College District.

That partnership developed the concept for the state-of-the-art joint-use public safety training center in June 2006 and formalized the plan though an intergovernmental agreement. The facility opened in April 2007.

The center is comprised of a law enforcement division and a fire division and both provide basic recruit training, advanced training, Maricopa County Community College public safety training programs and private corporation public safety training programs. Both divisions offer comprehensive training programs within their particular disciplines of expertise, and share division resources including staff. In addition to training division programs, individual agencies may also identify and implement specialized training for their members.

The center is located on an 80-acre site that is located within a Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated flood plain. Thirteen acres are dedicated to a levee that surrounds the facility to prevent flooding and removes the facility from the flood-plain classification. The remaining 67 acres are used for the training center, which creates a realistic city-like environment for public safety training.

The administration and main classroom building is 94,690 square feet and includes a law-enforcement defensive tactics room and a 9,385-square-foot fire department Candidate Physical Ability Testing area. The joint-use areas include a 6,510-square-foot health center; physical fitness room with attached men's and women's locker room and shower facilities; 11 offices, 10 cubicles and seven work stations for staff and faculty; a state-of-the-art computer lab with 30 computer stations; seven 50-person classrooms, one of which features fixed anchor points for technical-rescue training; and two breakout rooms, two libraries, three conference/meeting rooms, and a large lecture hall that seats 132 students. Audio/visual equipment can link all classrooms and meeting rooms to the lecture hall if needed for large presentations or training.

The prop-use area is 56 acres and holds a single-family house with a basement, a kitchen fire prop and a car fire prop in the attached garage. Other fire department props include a 5-story gas prop training tower with suppression and technical-rescue props; a simulated fire station with a “dirty” classroom, kitchen, recruit training captain offices, and equipment storage area; natural-gas props that include a car fire, a gas migration field, a bell hole prop and a railroad tanker prop; a Class A combustible flashover prop; a propane tank and propane tank filling prop; a multi-use ventilation prop designed to conduct search-and-rescue drills and mayday training; a technical-rescue confined-space prop; and an auto-extrication area.

Law enforcement officers can train with one 100-yard and two 50-yard shooting ranges and a fire arms shooting village; and a police officer physical agility test. There also are two canopy-style aid stations with restrooms, fans, mister systems and SCBA fill stations and a driver-training track with a skid pad that also can be used for hose lays for joint use.

The intergovernmental agreement provides direction for operational and fiscal necessities of the GRPSTC and clearly defines the financial responsibility and allowance of facility use determined by the pro-rate share that each agency contributes toward construction and continued operational funding. Additionally, the agreement provides a flexible management structure that enables administrative and fiscal review of the center's operation, as well as facilitating cooperative decision making by all partnering agencies.

The agreement created an executive board, chiefs board and an operations committee to decentralize decision-making processes and delegate authority to all partnering agencies. Each group reviews and approves or recommends solutions for challenges presented to each respective team. If a decision-making authority is encompassed within its group, a review-and-approve process can be executed. If a decision-making process involves a judgment beyond the group's scope of authority, a review-and-recommend process can be conducted. The next level of authority can adopt the recommendation, modify the recommendation, or request that the previous group review the challenge and submit another proposed solution.

The executive board is charged with approving all capital improvement plans, the annual operating budget, the operations manual and any required legal actions. The executive board meets semi-annually and can convene as needed to address strategic level decisions regarding the center. The Glendale city manager serves as the executive board chairman. All actions of the executive board are contingent on a membership vote. The executive board consists of the Glendale, Peoria, Surprise and Avondale city managers and the chancellor of Maricopa County Community College District. The chiefs board chairman and the center's director attend executive board meetings as non-voting members.

The chiefs board reviews and recommends approval of the annual operating budget, operations manual, and annual training plan and schedule. The board meets quarterly to address tactical level decisions regarding the center. All actions are contingent on a membership vote. The board consists of the Glendale, Avondale, Peoria and Surprise fire chiefs; the Glendale police chief and the community college district's fire and police program chairs. The Glendale Fire Chief Mark Burdick was elected as the chairman by the other board members.