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A partnership between two agencies was made clear on Thursday afternoon in the City of Bartlesville.

Officers with the Bartlesville Police Department and administrators from Tri County Tech came together for a ribbon cutting ceremony. Lindel Fields – the CEO for TCT – said they welcome the BPD to campus as a new East Side Substation for the police department becomes more of a reality.

The two groups have worked hand-in-hand, and Fields said this is how government should work. He said they have shared resources and personnel to save the community money. Fields added that Tri County Tech and Bartlesville's east side citizens now have better access to the police. He said this makes everyone safer.

On top of safety and accessibility to the police, Tri County Tech and the Bartlesville Police Department are hoping for is to grow the facility into a regional training center that will grow over time.

Fields said this will help police departments and other emergency agencies across the State of Oklahoma train their members so Oklahoma can become a safer community. He said Tri County Tech was recently a recipient of a $250,000 Oklahoma Lottery Grant, and that money will be used to provide driving simulations and shooting simulations for police departments.

There will also be a burn tower on campus to help rural fire departments with training scenarios. Fields said the tower will help firefighters learn how to operate in a controlled-burn environment, so when a real situation occurs, they will be ready for it. He said you can expect to see something at TCT in the next 12 months to help all the fire communities.

As for the partnership with the Bartlesville Police Department and the new East Side Substation, Fields said it just makes sense. He said he knows the BPD has always wanted to be on the east side of Bartlesville, and the partnership is affordable. He said it is just something that needed to happen.

Thursday, Fields said, was a good day for Tri County Tech. He said it was also a good day for the Bartlesville Police Department, and a good day for the citizens. He said he is once again proud to be a part of the Bartlesville community.

The East Side Substation will house an East Side Patrol Division and a Special Operations Division, which will consist of a Training Unit, Traffic Unit, and an Impact Team. The substation will provide east-side residents with easier access to police services and reduced response times during emergencies.

Up to thirteen police officers will be on-shift at the East Side Substation at any time. The patrol division will consist of two or three on-shift police officers, while a sergeant and corporal will staff the Training Unit. A corporal and two officers will cover the Traffic Unit, and a sergeant and two officers will man the Impact Team.

Pictured below is Bartlesville’s Deputy Police Chief Rocky Bevard and Tri County’s CEO Lindel Fields addressing the crowd that attended the ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday. Also addressing the crowd below was TCT’s Tara Gotwalt and Bartlesville Mayor Dale Copeland. A glimpse of the substation is pictured as well.