Related petition with 50+ signatures of people who want it fixed:

"5. The constant outdoor gunfire at the police training range is not acceptable. People living in Newhallville and Beaver Hills hear constant gunfire from this range and it sends the wrong message."

http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/90790

There is so much noise pollution in New Haven. Why aren't you complaining about the noisy motorcycles and illegal ATV's, incessant beeping and other everyday urban noise disruptions that are constant? The shooting range noise is at least intermittent.

Once the firing range is relocated, we will see how soundproof it really is. FWIW, I hear the shooting at the range, but is is far less offensive and pluuting than the noises I mentioned above.

So Craig I take it that u live in this area and u can distiguish between police gunfire and two kids shooting at one another. Motorcycle and ATV noise aren't killing people but gunshots are! I never said it was offensive but how can u justify little kids hearing constant gunfire from there and moving along as if its a normal part of life in their neighborhood? What if a real gunfight occurs and they think its the police range? Noise isn't the issue here

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Is anything really being done about this?

I find the noise alone disturbing. It reverberates through a community. I see that you mention the off-road vehicles and the noise they produce. Well, have you ever stood by a young child who tugs on his mother and says, "Mommy I want a dirt-bike!" The same psychological attraction occurs every time these kids hear the gun shots going off at the NHPD range. It is not that guns are bad. It is that there is an opportunity to let a different noise ring in a neighborhood.

This issue is in dire need of attention.

"Planning is underway to relocate the police academy and the police firing range from its current location to the site of the former Army National Guard facility on Goffe Street. The range will then be indoors and sound-dampened. "

- - After more than a year, the training facility is still in the same place. Any reason? Who is a point of contact for this 'planning'?

My sense is that they've said "planning is underway" for many years now. It's a good way for government officials to deflect the community outrage about the ongoing use of this facility and its destruction of the surrounding community fabric.

The reality seems to be that it may be decades before the facility actually moves somewhere else.

The Whalley-Edgewood-Beaver Hill (WEB) Management Team has a shooting range committee, and they coordinate with the Newhallville Management Team. I meet with WEB regularly to provide updates.

There are two parts to solving this issue. One is to find a location to build a new indoor range, and the second is to identify funds to build one. On the first part, the City has been pursuing the former Wintergreen Avenue US Army Reserve Center through the federal Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) process. The BRAC process takes a long time, but we reached a milestone last week when the Dept of Justice approved the transfer for law enforcement use (relocating the Training Academy) at no cost, after a several-month review. The Board of Aldermen has already approved the transfer and now the Dept of Defense will then complete the paperwork, and the transfer is likely to occur sometime this winter. There is ample space to construct an indoor range at the new site.

The second part is securing funding for an indoor range. The City believes that there might be interest by other agencies in sharing costs and use (an indoor range would not inconvenience the neighborhood because it would be sound-proof). To that end, Senator Lieberman has toured the current range to learn about the problems it creates for the neighborhood and the training advantages to NHPD and federal agencies of an indoor range. Senator Blumenthal has expressed an interest in a similar tour, though it is not yet scheduled.

Read more at: www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/beaver_hill_to_city_thanks_for_the/

My friend Mark's cynicism aside, there has been a considerable amount of progress on this issue. It is a complicated problem to solve, however, and there are still several hurdles to go. I would be happy to meet with any community group that is interested and discuss further.

- Rob Smuts, City of New Haven Chief Administrative Officer

Thank you for the update, I have been aware of that progress and planning for some time now. I know that neighbors will be glad to see that there is now a timeline for the land transfer (i.e., this winter). Building an indoor range could cost $5 to $10 million. We need to be upfront about that cost. Given that raising that amount of money may take some time, that there is no current timeline for it, and that this has been an urgent issue for many years, I disagree that it is cynical to feel that many years of planning and discussion at the Federal level is a way to avoid addressing the issue directly. There was no City funding request to the State this year for constructing a range, for example. Now that the land is finally being transferred this winter, have any local Alderpersons considered calling a public hearing or briefing to see if the City can be mobilized to address this issue in a more significant way?

I'm a student at Southern Connecticut State University and today there was so much gunfire. I am thinking that the shooting range is still open for business. Why do king Robinson, Southern, Hillhouse, etc. have to hear this ?

We are trying to delineate issues that are current and need the city's attention to resolve. Any issues prior to 2013 are being closed. If your issue remains and needs to be addressed by the city, please either re-open or open as a new See Click Fix issue. Thanks.

According to Rob Smuts, in August of 2012, in this very thread:

"There are two parts to solving this issue. One is to find a location to build a new indoor range, and the second is to identify funds to build one. On the first part, the City has been pursuing the former Wintergreen Avenue US Army Reserve Center through the federal Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) process. The BRAC process takes a long time, but we reached a milestone last week when the Dept of Justice approved the transfer for law enforcement use (relocating the Training Academy) at no cost, after a several-month review.

The Board of Aldermen has already approved the transfer and now the Dept of Defense will then complete the paperwork, and the transfer is likely to occur sometime this winter. There is ample space to construct an indoor range at the new site.

The second part is securing funding for an indoor range. The City believes that there might be interest by other agencies in sharing costs and use (an indoor range would not inconvenience the neighborhood because it would be sound-proof). To that end, Senator Lieberman has toured the current range to learn about the problems it creates for the neighborhood and the training advantages to NHPD and federal agencies of an indoor range. Senator Blumenthal has expressed an interest in a similar tour, though it is not yet scheduled."

I wonder if the students at Southern Connecticut State University are here in constant gunfire today.

This issue, and all related issues should remain open, and citizens
Should be outraged that kindergarteners have to live
With this gunfire as the background music for their day.

Not to mention all the combat veterans that take classes at SCSU.

We live in this neighborhood and my two year old and 6 year old now believe the cops are practicing to kill people...please build an inside shooting range...also I've been listening to this for so long that whenever there is a real shooting I don't call the cops. The sound is as normal as a car horn beeping outside.

^^^ Truly Sad.

I live just down the street and the sound of gunfire from the Police Academy range travels an incredible distance. It seems that you can drive quite a few blocks away and still hear the shots ring out clearly and it can be startling at times. Especially if you do not know where they are coming from at first.

Any idea when this menace is going to be relocated to a suitable location?????? Would be nice to hear from an Alderperson or some city official regarding this matter.

On 9/21/17, all day, all evening and up to 9:50 p.m.

Is that what that was all night? I heard it in Westville. Are we sure that was not fireworks?

I heard it all the way over on Edgewood! Used to live closer to the range, and am prior military - that was definitely a qualification for them.

Was it the type of weapon that was being fired that made it so loud last night?

Possibly. It seems to be louder every year, perhaps because the weapons are getting more powerful. But on that night I wasn't referring to increased volume but that it went way beyond the regular all-day nuisance we usually have and late into the evening.

I moved to Harding Place, just a block away, a year ago. The first 3 months I moved I was convinced I had moved into gang territory, even though I did extensive research on the neighborhood before I moved. Then I drove by and realized. Made me feel better knowing it was the cops, but still, to be woken up by gunfire is an awful thing. I wouldn't invite people over the first few months I lived here because I was so embarrassed by the location.

I took a day off to relax recently and regretted it. Ended up with a major headache. I cannot believe this shooting range is still here, the children have to hear this while waiting for a bus and nobody cares.

Alder from ward 21 here - the ribbon cutting for the new indoor range too place on Friday. There will be no more shooting at the old firing range! Now the City has to figure out how to clean up the old range and decide what to do with the area.

Thanks for fixing this request!