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Metra police getting their own shooting range soon

Metra police officers likely will begin training this spring at a shooting range the agency purchased for $509,000.

The department is waiting on installation of a concrete pad for the shooting range, Metra Police Chief Joseph Perez said Wednesday.

Metra directors approved the purchase in November.

Officers had trained at Chicago and Illinois State Police facilities for free. But because Chicago police are hiring new officers, Metra's time there now is negligible, Perez explained last fall. Use of the state police range was limited because it's outdoors and there's demand from other local departments.

Instead of building a new range that could cost up to $1.3 million, Perez proposed buying a secondhand range. It consists of two joined steel shipping containers.

The range will be located at a Metra facility in Blue Island; it is equipped with heating and air-conditioning and can be used year-round.

"In the world we live in today, if they have to use their firearms, we have to make sure they're proficient," the chief told board directors in November.

Police officers spent about $120,000 in overtime on firearms training last year, an expense the new range will eliminate, officials said.

Perez recommended against using a commercial range, saying it was expensive at $20 to $40 an hour per person.

What now for Metra police force?

Metra to add more police officers on trains

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