Stafford County officially opened the Ford T. Humphrey Public Safety Building today with a ribbon cutting ceremony by the Board of Supervisors, staff from the Stafford Fire and Rescue Department, the Sheriff’s Office and members of the Humphrey family.

“Today is a story about partnerships,” said Chairman of the Board George Schwartz in his opening comments at the ceremony. “There have been many great partnerships in history: Lewis and Clark, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Sears and Roebuck. All of these partnerships have left a lasting legacy. I believe that the partnerships that have brought us here today will do the same.”

The Ford T. Humphrey Public Safety Building was built under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002, or PPEA, which grants public entities the authority to create public-private partnerships for the development of a wide range of projects for public use if the public entities determine that there is a need for the project and private involvement may provide the project to the public in a timely or cost-effective fashion.

Northrop Grumman was awarded the $36.4 million contract to construct the building under PPEA in November 2005. Construction began in 2006 and was completed early this year.  

The Sheriff’s Office and Fire and Rescue both operate out of the 114,000 square foot building, which also houses the 9-1-1 Communications Center and the Emergency Operations Center.

The building is named after Stafford Deputy Sheriff Ford Tyson “Toby” Humphrey, who lost his life on October 9, 1980 while serving and protecting Stafford citizens. While attempting to stop a domestic disturbance, Deputy Humphrey was killed by a gunman. Deputy Humphrey’s service was best characterized by loyalty, fearless performance of duty, and faithful and honorable devotion to the principles of the Stafford Sheriff’s Office.

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