Houston Police Getting $10.5M Firearms Training Facility in 2026
By Matt deGrood
Source Houston Chronicle
What to know
- The Houston Police Department will soon break ground on the $10.5M Fertitta Family Firearms Training Facility, funded in part by a donation from billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who is the ambassador to Italy.
- The 44,000 sq. ft. facility will feature 20 100-yard lanes, simulation systems and year-round training capabilities.
- The project addresses the department’s need for expanded firearms training resources and is expected to be ready by 2026.
The Houston Police Department will soon have a new, $10.5 million firearms training facility named after the family of President Donald Trump's ambassador to Italy.
Crews will soon break ground on the Fertitta Family Firearms Training Facility, at 17000 Aldine Westfield, near George Bush International Airport, officials said. It will be ready in early 2026.
Houston billionaire and Trump's ambassador to Italy, Tilman Fertitta, donated $2.5 million of the $10.5 million total to help construct the 44,000 square foot facility, officials said. The Houston Police Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization that funds equipment and training for the law enforcement agency, generated the funds for the project.
Fertitta serves as the president of the Houston Police Foundation, officials said.
Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, praised the construction project, saying the agency needs additional firearms training facilities.
The facility will include 20 100-yard shooting lanes, simulations and safety systems, according to a press release. It will also support recruiting and ongoing officer training year-round.
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![“By the early part of next year, I think we’re going to be up close to where we only have about 350 vacancies, and it continues on that trend. In three or four years, we’ll be up where we should be, which is 2,500 [sworn officers],” says Commissioner Richard Worley about the agency's aggressive hiring.](https://img.officer.com/files/base/cygnus/ofcr/image/2025/06/68405de973e934e2dec66844-richard_worley_baltimore_pd_commissioner_md_tns.png?auto=format,compress&fit=&q=45&h=139&height=139&w=250&width=250 "“By the early part of next year, I think we’re going to be up close to where we only have about 350 vacancies, and it continues on that trend. In three or four years, we’ll be up where we should be, which is 2,500 [sworn officers],” says Commissioner Richard Worley about the agency's aggressive hiring.")
