Joliet city officials and Joliet Junior College are seeking to explore the creation of a public safety institute for the education and training of police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders.

An intergovernmental agreement was approved by the JJC Board of Trustees at their Sept. 10 meeting. A resolution to approve the agreement is on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting before the Joliet City Council.

“I think it’s going to be the future of first responder training in the region,” said Joliet Fire Chief Jeff Carey at the college board meeting.

A resolution pending City Council approval said the city and the college “desire to collaborate” on the development of a public safety institute and “jointly explore” the feasibility, design construction costs and funding options for the institute.

Joliet and JJC officials will “formalize their responsibilities” and authorize spending up to “$250,000 toward this exploratory effort,” according to the resolution.

In 2022, Joliet city officials once discussed the creation of a regional training center for police and firefighters, with a retired fire chief serving as a director for that facility.

On Sept. 10, Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy spoke in favor of the intergovernmental agreement at JJC’s meeting. He said the institute would create a pipeline for the next generation of public safety professionals.

“Here in Joliet, we have 40,000 young people under the age of 18. This institute will give them something to think about [and] an opportunity to see everything in action,” D’Arcy said.

Carey told the board he is a 1995 graduate of JJC and he attended the college’s fire science program when “it was in its infancy.”

“I’ve seen the work you guys have done with it over the years and how it’s expanded into what it is today. I believe what we’re proposing to try and do here now is take it to the next step,” Carey said.

Carey said he’s heard from recruits that they want more hands-on training. He said the public safety institute could also allow police officers and firefighter-paramedics to learn from each other more during their training.

“A lot of calls we go on, police are there first,” Carey said.

He said if officers have more training similar to emergency medical responders, it can help the survival rate of people who are injured.

Carey said there are times paramedics arrive on the scene first and he cited an incident earlier this month where two paramedics were stabbed in Champaign.

“If we could learn from some of the police techniques together before we start, we could better prepare ourselves for going into these situations also,” Carey said.