$24 million later, Tallahassee’s law enforcement youth center is taking shape

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Right now, it’s little more than a skeleton of steel.

Construction crews move between beams on the Florida Sheriffs Association campus, slowly transforming the framework into what supporters hope will become one of the state’s most ambitious youth outreach projects.

By next summer, the 22,000-square-foot Florida Sheriffs Youth Learning Center is expected to welcome students from across Florida with interactive exhibits, a theater and hands-on experiences designed to introduce them to careers in law enforcement.

Getting there has required a significant public investment.

A FOX49 review of three years of state budget records found Florida taxpayers have committed $24 million to the project through successive legislative appropriations. While the Florida Sheriffs Association did not receive its full funding request during every budget cycle as state leaders emphasized keeping spending in check, lawmakers ultimately funded the project over multiple years.

The association has also contributed $2 million from its own budget and recently launched a public campaign to raise another $1 million through private donations and naming opportunities.

For supporters, though, the building itself isn’t the point.

They say the real investment is in the relationships it could help create.

“We’re starting early whether that is someone that is in fifth grade all the way to someone who is in their senior year and they’re trying to decide, ‘Hey, what am I going to do with my career?'” said Logan Lewkow, the Florida Sheriffs Association’s deputy executive director of operations.

Lewkow said the center is designed to expose students to far more than patrol deputies.

Visitors will be able to explore careers ranging from dispatching emergency calls to crime scene investigations while also learning about more than 200 years of Florida sheriffs’ history.

“I think it’s a great investment,” Lewkow said. “I think if you look at the amount of money that our state has put in to recruit the best and brightest, I think this is going to alleviate some of those things that we’ve had to do in the past.”

The center comes as law enforcement agencies across the country continue competing to recruit and retain officers.

Lewkow believes introducing students to public safety careers years before they enter the workforce could eventually reduce those shortages.

“I think it allows the state to invest into the future and I think we will see a return on that,” he said.

The association says private fundraising will continue even after construction is complete.

“When it comes to the rest of the funds again, we’ll have to update this Youth Learning Center as we go throughout,” Lewkow said. “But the beautiful thing is that those funds won’t come from the Legislature.”

Across Tallahassee, another organization has already been working toward a similar goal.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Bend pairs children with law enforcement officers and first responders through its “Bigs with Badges” mentoring program.

CEO Molly Lord said many young people only encounter law enforcement during difficult moments. The program aims to change that by giving them an opportunity to build relationships outside of emergencies.

“They’re seeing that different side of law enforcement in our community and more in a positive light versus a negative light if something were to happen bad in their neighborhood,” Lord said.

She says changing perceptions doesn’t happen overnight.

“It’s all about the relationship and it is about having open and honest conversations and developing trust,” Lord said. “Through that connection and through that consistency, particularly with law enforcement in our Bigs with Badges program, it helps to show them that these are individuals in our community and they’re out to do good.”

That’s why she’s optimistic about what the new learning center could add.

“I really just hope that our partnership with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office can grow and thrive with this new building and build partnerships and build programs for our youth,” Lord said.

Whether the Youth Learning Center ultimately succeeds won’t be measured by how many people walk through its doors on opening day.

Supporters say the real test will come years later, when today’s fifth graders begin deciding what kind of future they want to build—and whether this building helped shape that decision.