The sheriff proposes a training academy and new headquarters; a year later the academy still isn’t open

The March 2025 court order required a plan to boost deputy recruitment; the office pledged a compliance plan within 30 days and argued a local academy would enhance hiring, noting that recruits currently train for 19 weeks in State College, “an obstacle that many local families simply cannot accommodate.”

In May 2025, Bilal proposed leasing a former Social Security Administration building at 2929 North Broad Street as an academy — at an estimated $800,000 to $900,000 a year — and moving headquarters to 40,000 square feet in the former Budd Company complex on West Hunting Park Avenue. Council President Kenyatta Johnson responded: “We’re going to look at those vacancies in calculations with what you’re actually requesting funding for.”

At the April 2026 budget hearing, nearly a year later, Bilal was still asking Council for funding to open a local training academy.