Picente To Announce Purchase of State of the Art Virtual Fire Arms Training System

F.A.T.S. System Funded Through Partners In Prosperity Program. First Demonstration by Mohawk Valley Police Academy will also take place. 

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr, joined by Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol and Utica Police Chief Mark Williams and the Mohawk Valley Police Academy trainees will announce and demonstrate the new state of the art Fire Arms Training System program.

County Executive Picente said of the purchase “With this purchase we continue to help our local law enforcement by providing the best equipment for training and when in the field.”

Included is a video link showing how the system works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Jo77JD52o&feature=player_detailpage

“I want to thank the County Executive for using Public Safety Partners in Prosperity money to purchase this F.A.T.S system for the Mohawk Valley Police Academy” Responded Sheriff Rob Maciol “In order to make the public as safe as possible we must have the best trained and best equipped personnel out there. This state of the art equipment is exactly the type of purchase that makes everyone in our community safer.”

The total expenditure to obtain the F.A.T.S. system is $81,000 spent from the 2015 Partners In Prosperity Public Safety Funding. The Public Safety Partners in Prosperity Funding was allocated $500,000 from the Oneida Nation Revenue Sharing funds in the 2015 budget.

Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said “I would like to thank the County Executive for his efforts in obtaining this training simulator. Having the most advanced equipment to train our officers is essential. This equipment allows our officers to experience scenarios they may face on the street, and helps our training staff access individual officers decision making.”

Picente went on to say “In 2015 when I set aside money from the Oneida Nation Settlement Agreement the goal was to move this county forward like never before. This is about public safety and when law enforcement personnel go out every day to protect us we have a duty to ensure their safety, whether that is through equipment like the Tactical vests purchased earlier in the year or by ensuring they have state of the art training equipment like F.A.T.S.”

The Oneida Nation Settlement which was signed in 2013 and went into effect in March of 2014 generates an estimated 12.5 million a year to the County in shared gaming revenue. In 2015 budget 5 million was allocated for Partners In Prosperity Funding. The funding areas include, public safety, economic development, infrastructure, arts and culture and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education initiatives.

In 2015, in addition to tactical vests and the F.A.T.S. Partners in Prosperity Public Safety Fund purchased:

Attack Digital Fire Training Package
Fire Department Portable Command Board
GIS Next Generation Technology
Air Van Upgrades
Probation tracking equipment
Mercy Flight Helicopter Emergency Response Team
Computer and radio upgrades
Extra firefighter training.