FAQ: Buffalo’s cop city

Would this new training facility and shooting range save us money?

No. The Buffalo Police Department currently rents out the Cheektowaga at a price lower than the what the building of this new facility, as well as ongoing maintenance and staffing fees, will cost us. In addition, our New York State tax dollars already go towards paying for the Cheektowaga facility.

Would this facility increase police response time in the area to calls?

No. This would be a police training facility and shooting range, not a police precinct. The people coming in and out of the facility cannot and will not respond to calls in the area. Police presence, especially of vehicles and traffic in the area, will likely increase - meaning residents will likely see all the risks of increased police presence, but without officers serving the community.

Why can’t they build the the police training facility and shooting range somewhere else? Why in this Broadway-Fillmore residential neighborhood?

It is a pattern for local city governments across the US to build “cop cities,” or militarized police training facilities, in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods. The Broadway-Fillmore area is a residential neighborhood with majority Black and brown young families and seniors. The area also has vacant lots and unused buildings due to ongoing disinvestment in the neighborhood, but instead of revitalizing something like the old Matt Hope community center that was there previously, the city chooses to use these spaces for a training facility and shooting range for the police. There are many possible reasons behind this choice of location. Could it be to increase repression of BIPOC communities, especially after the BLM movements of 2020? Could it be because placing something like this in a wealthier, and majority white, neighborhood would be met with pushback that they would choose not to ignore? Could it be to help succeed in gentrifying the area through raising property taxes and making white people feel “safe” while our Black and brown neighbors continue to be ignore by our city elects?

The police training facility and shooting range should not be built in any neighborhood. It will remain costing Buffalo taxpayers millions of dollars, continue to contribute to militarization of the police, continue to be invested in rather than investment towards much needed resources and services. If you don’t want it in your neighborhood, likely nor do your neighbors a couple miles away.

If the facility isn’t going to save us money, and there is so much pushback to the project, why is the city still building the facility?

Despite calls, statements, and petitions submitted to the city government and Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski in opposition to the facility, the city continues to push forward with the project. The project will cost Buffalo taxpayers millions of dollars, while this city and the Broadway-Filmore neighorhood have been devested in areas of housing, youth and senior services, environmentally-safe and healthy practices, accessible food, and more.

There are various reasons we’ve found the city may be trying to push this project forward. With recent plans to revitalize the Central Terminal, the city has prioritized placing this police training facility right next to the Central Terminal over resources for the neighborhood. Police presence is often placed in gentrified locations, in order to help make white suburbian incomers feel “safer.”

On a national level: the militarization of the police is growing across the nation, with >60 cop projects popping up in cities across America within the past 5 years, mostly in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. The city of Buffalo is following suit in a national movement to increase policing, especially towards Black and brown populations, immigrants, and political activists. They invest in policing rather than give the people what we need to keep ourselves and families safe and healthy.

What actions have been taken to let city officials know the people of Buffalo do not want this facility?

LOLA volunteers, Broadway-Fillmore residents, and residents across the city of Buffalo have reached out to Buffalo city councilmembers and taken various actions against the project.

In April 2025, 2,348 signatures were collected in just 17 days from residents across the city of Buffalo to try to repeal a bond resolution allocating ~500,000 in city bonds towards the construction of the police training facility.

Also in April, LOLA volunteers request common council hold an accessible public meeting about the facility, demanding that a meeting be held in an accessible location to those most impacted (Central Terminal/Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood), scheduled on a day/time that is accessible to working people, and provide language-access to ensure all community members are informed and can share their thoughts and concerns. Over the span of over a month, numerous letters, calls, and visits were made to Mitch Nowakowski’s office. Despite many conversations with staff, we saw no efforts from the Fillmore councilmember to schedule the public meeting.

Also in April, folks from the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood requested to speak to councilmember Nowakowski about the facility, with no response. LOLA volunteers and community members signed up to speak at the city’s Community Development committee meeting, however, they were not permitted to speak due to a mistake made on the city’s end (councilmembers cited an email sent to outdated email adresses still listed on the city’s website, despite the email also being sent to several correct contacts).

In late April 2025, the Common Council hosted a city budget hearing, where >50% of the speakers at the budget hearing spoke to the councilmembers about their desire to not invest these bonds in the training facility and shooting range, and rather towards other areas like youth and senior services, parks, a community center, housing, and mental health services. Fillmore councilmember Mitch Nowakowski had no response.

In August 2025, Broadway-Fillmore Residents created a petition opposing the project, collecting >100 signatures from folks living in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood. This petition was received and filed*. *received and filed: in our words, it means they do not discuss the submission and just send it to their files.

Also in late summer, A SEQRA compliance was submitted by a Buffalo resident addressing the lack of an environmental impact study completed by the city of Buffalo, something required for a project like the police training facility and shooting range.

As of November 2025, LOLA volunteers are helping Broadway-Fillmore residents sue the city of Buffalo over lack of consideration of the environmental impact of this police training facility and shooting range on the neighborhood. For this reason, LOLA is currently raising funds to pay for legal fees and fundraising operational fees, with anything left over to be used as mutual aid in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood.