The rows and columns of “mothballed bunked beds” and random storage that once filled the former ICE detainment facility on Faunce Corner Road are no more.

Now, the building has been retrofitted to house the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office’s training academy, the Sheriff’s Response Team and K9 Unit.

The ICE facility was closed in May 2021 by the Department of Homeland Security because of “ample evidence that the Detention Center’s treatment of detained individuals and the conditions of detention are unacceptable,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the time.

The closure came more than a year after an altercation left three detainees in the hospital — an incident then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said had violated the detainees' civil rights. 

Since 2021, the facility has remained largely empty — with one wing used for training exercises for correctional officers.

At the Monday, Nov. 18 grand opening, Sheriff Paul Heroux showed off the facility, which now features three classrooms and mock cells to practice extractions. 

“The training academy was operating out of a garage rented across the street,” Heroux said. “This gives them a proper home and also shows each of those different units the respect that they deserve for the work that they do.”

The work was completed in house by the sheriff’s office’s maintenance staff, who are licensed professionals. The work cost the office less than $100,000, with contracted work having been estimated to more or less than half a million dollars.

Heroux said this work not only “underscores the talent that we have on the staff,” but they were also able “to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The classrooms now provide a space for correctional officer training, new employee orientation, in-service training and opportunities for other government agencies around the county to use the space, according to Heroux. 

“Corrections and policing are two different branches of law enforcement, but there is some overlap with what we do,” he said, adding how both similarly address implicit bias, deescalation, different interventions and more.

The training academy has also been extended from eight weeks to 10, adding more to the curriculum.

In addition to the classrooms, there are spaces for combat training and defensive tactics, with all the necessary equipment and materials.

Heroux said this space isn’t as noisy and drafty as the garage: “It’s just a much better introduction to the BCSO than what we had before.”

With the Trump Administration to take office in January, Heroux announced any undocumented individuals the federal government detains will not be held at the House of Correction. 

“We have our own inmates to deal with and we have limited staffing, so to bring more inmates, or detainees in this case, we would just stretch our resources a little bit too thin,” he said.

Heroux also highlighted, “This organization has been there, done that, and it didn’t go so well for us. It’s public knowledge that we’re getting sued.”

He said both the federal government and state disagree with who exactly has a responsibility to the situation, which has led to neither assisting the sheriff’s office with the case to navigate the lawsuit and potential settlement agreements.

Securing borders and rounding up detainees is the job of the federal government and while he has no intention to do that, he also said he will not get in the way of it, adding he will provide any information he legally can if requested.

Heroux said it is possible there are undocumented individuals at the House of Correction now. A few months ago, 61 inmates self-reported being foreign born.

“Our job is to hold and provide care, custody, rehabilitation for anybody the court sends our way,” he said. “We’re not here to judge them or treat anybody differently.”