City of San Diego could pay as much as $4.1 million for private gun range contract

Firearms training and certifications for San Diego police officers just got more expensive. On Tuesday, San Diego’s City Council voted to modify its ongoing contract with a private gun range in Poway, allowing as much as $4.1 million to be spent on a five-year contract dating back to 2022. 

SDPD has been using that range since its own outdoor range was shuttered that same year. It operated for decades on Federal Boulevard, sandwiched between the Mount Hope and Fairmount Park neighborhoods.

NBC 7 Investigates has been covering the lead contamination issue for years. At least a dozen officers filed workers’ compensation claims for elevated levels of lead in their blood. There were also concerns of lead dust exposure to the nearby families, based on an environmental study from the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. 

Impacts to the community have been repeatedly disputed by the City of San Diego. Last year, it agreed to a $700,000 no-fault settlement with the APCD over contamination at the range.

Since the closure, officers have been visiting Poway Weapons & Gear for firearms training and certification. The initial five-year contract was slated to cost the city no more than $1.755 million 

On Tuesday, San Diego agreed to amend the contract for a second time, more than doubling the total amount of money that could be paid out for services to a potential maximum of $4.1 million. That contact is slated to run through late 2027.

Jared Wilson, the President of the San Diego Police Officers Association, told NBC 7 Investigates that he considers the Poway range a stopgap solution. He said the union believes that SDPD needs to find a permanent answer to ensure training is the best that it can be to ensure public safety.

Other costs connected to the closure of the outdoor range

Issues that shut down the outdoor range are likely connected to renovations that started there in 2019. After a few years and having spent $11.6 million, city officials opted not to install a $184,000 dust collection unit as part of a new mechanical bullet trap. 

That dust collection device uses negative pressure to pull dust and toxins toward the back of the trap, where it enters a filtering system. A city spokesperson told us that piece of equipment was optional according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

In 2022, NBC 7 Investigates reported that San Diego had spent about $400,000 to clean up some lead at the site and another $51,000 to hire an environmental consultant. We asked the city if additional funds had been spent on either of those types of services since then. Those answers weren’t immediately available.

The future of the outdoor range

It does appear likely that more spending will be necessary at the property. Last month, a public notice was sent out to the community about plans for further range cleanup.

“Two site investigations have been conducted by the City’s environmental consultant. These investigations have identified the location and severity of the heavy metal impacts on the property. The City is proposing to act on this information by strategically removing affected surface soils and encapsulating the remainder with an impermeable cover,” the notice said.

The notice also makes it clear that the outdoor range will not reopen following the work. City Life Church Pastor Dale Huntington is happy his Mount Hope community hasn’t had to hear the sound of daily gunshots for the past several years.

“I feel like while we’ve not seen a lot of change, though it’s been a great victory to see this shooting range shut down,” Huntington said. “For my children and for the kids who are trying to go to bed at night, it’s been peace. It’s been peaceful.”

Huntington told NBC 7 Investigates that he wished the money spent on dealing with the range could have been used to make Mount Hope a better place.

“The answer is invest in these children in these communities right now, and you won’t have to invest in police and shooting ranges later,” Huntington said. “Mount Hope desperately needs a rec center for our community, and there’s no money for it.”

NBC 7 Investigates asked the city what the future holds for the property the gun range sits on and the equipment that’s been sitting idle there. A spokesperson said they weren’t able to provide answers today.

However, a consultant’s report paid for by the City of San Diego may shed more light. It said, “The City does not intend to use the site as a pistol range but will continue to be used for police training (excluding use of live ammunition).”

That may conflict with an agreement the city made with the San Diego Police Revolver Club when it took possession in 1936. Documents show the property was signed over to the city for $1, on the condition that it would always operate a police gun range on the land. If, for whatever reason, the city stopped doing so, the land would revert to the revolver club.

NBC 7 Investigates spoke with club president Jerry Van Wey, who said he’d been trying to get answers on that subject since the range closed. He said he wasn’t aware of the recent public notice declaring that the outdoor range would stay closed permanently and hadn’t been contacted by the City of San Diego.