WT Celebrates Opening of New, $10 Million Home for Police Department, Public Safety

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University Police officially moved into its new home Sept. 30 following a $10 million upgrade.

The University Police Department now is located at 2 Monty Platt Drive, in the north portion of the former Canyon Hospital. The complex also is home to the Palo Duro Research Facility, an on-campus laboratory for Pantex.

“This new University Police Department and Public Safety Building stands as a visible promise,” said Dr. Neil Terry, interim president, in prepared remarks. “It says to our students: you matter. It says to our faculty and staff: your work is valued and protected. And it says to our broader community: West Texas A&M University is a place where care for one another is not an aspiration—it is a practice.”

In addition to housing the UPD and its 18 sworn officers, the building also will house 20 additional public safety employees in parking services, lost and found, fire and life safety, lock shop, dispatch, emergency management and the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Only the division’s Buff Gold Card Office will be housed elsewhere, specifically in its offices in the Classroom Center.

“This will be the first time that virtually all of our public safety employees will be working in the same vicinity,” UPD Chief Shawn Burns said. “This building was designed to be a police department, which allows us to streamline our operations for greater efficiency and effectiveness.”

The nearly 22,000-square-foot space holds 28 offices, a multipurpose room, warehouse spaces, property and evidence storage, and dispatch.

“This new facility is beautiful, purposefully built and practical for achieving our mission to keep WT a safe place to live, learn, work and visit,” Burns said.

UPD’s former home—in the old Student Union Building, commonly called “Old SUB”—will be demolished at a later date.

Burns said it is particularly significant that the new facility’s home is on a street named for one of UPD’s former officers.

Monty Platt Drive formally was unveiled in a July 15, 2025, ceremony honoring Cpl. Monty Platt, who died Aug. 8, 2017. Platt was bitten by a feral cat July 24, 2017, while trying to capture the injured animal on campus.

Platt, a WT alumnus, had served with the University Police Department for almost 17 years and for about 24 years total in law enforcement.

Palo Duro Hospital closed in 1997 and was acquired by WT in 1999. Prior to the establishment of the Palo Duro Research Facility, a portion of the building was used for engineering research labs but it was otherwise unoccupied.

“As the University continually prioritizes student safety, the University Police Department needed an updated facility and technology to continue to serve our students at the highest capacity,” said Dr. Todd McNeill, vice president of business and finance. “Renovating and repurposing existing University space provided the most fiscally responsible path forward, transforming an underutilized building into a state-of-the-art police facility while making constructive use of existing University resources.”

About West Texas A&M University

West Texas A&M University is a Regional Research University in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of about 9,000 and offers multiple options for students to graduate and succeed: 65 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 41 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and three doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference; WT offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: The West Texas A&M University Police Department celebrated the grand opening of its new facility at 2 Monty Platt Drive with an open house and ribbon cutting. Pictured are, from left, RoseAnne Platt, widow of Cpl. Monty Platt; Aaron Goodale, director of support services; Dr. Neil Terry, interim WT president; Ammileigh Smith, student body president; UPD Chief Shawn Burns; Dr. Todd McNeill, vice president for business and finance; Rob Thompson, Fire and Life Safety director; Jeff Tufford of the Lock Shop; Paul Gilbert of Project Control; Travis McPherson of Western Builders; and Andrew Evertson of BRW Architects.

—WT—