March 5, 2021 at 5:35 p.m.
Police proposal
Portland officers make pitch for a new facility citing various shortcomings of current space
Police proposal
Portland Police Department has outgrown city hall.
Portland police officers on Thursday made their pitch to the city’s board of works to begin considering the possibility of a new facility for the department.
Assistant police chief Erica Post and investigator Jeff Hopkins made the presentation to board members Portland Mayor John Boggs and Jerry Leonhard, absent Steve McIntosh, citing a variety of challenges the department currently has as it occupies the east side and the bulk of the second floor at city hall.
Among the key concerns were:
•Shared interview rooms and offices — There are no dedicated interview rooms, either for suspects or victims. Instead, offices double as interview rooms and the break room is used if those spaces are not available or already in use.
•Insufficient storage space — Case records and evidence storage areas are cramped, with files in many cases stacked floor to ceiling. “A lot of these are records that we have to retain for a number of years,” said Hopkins.
•A lack of parking — Currently, the city rents the bulk of its parking area from Dru Hall, who owns a property to the east of city hall. There are just a handful of parking spaces available on city hall property.
•Handicapped accessibility — Most of the current facility’s parking is in a stone lot. Some of the doors in the building do not accommodate wheel chairs. Training room is upstairs and does not allow for handicapped access.
While not necessarily suggesting it as an option, Post and Hopkins used the current Jay School Corporation administrative building — it is currently on the market at an asking price of $325,000 — as an example of what a new department site could provide.
Among the positives of such a site would be the ability to park police vehicles indoors. It also has more on-site parking, which is paved.
There would also be more space for document and evidence storage, the ability to have dedicated space for department leadership, officers and interview rooms.
“It would be nice for all the sergeants and what we call ‘brass’ to have their own offices,” said police chief Josh Stephenson, who was in attendance at the meeting.
In the case of the current school administration building, there are already cameras and other security features in place. It also has multiple handicapped-accessible entrances as well as about five acres of land that could be used for outdoor events such as the annual National Night Out.
Post also noted that the additional space would allow the department to host training sessions, which could bring in money through inviting other law enforcement officers to attend. (At times, Portland police had to use Portland Fire Department or Jay County Sheriff’s Office for training because of the lack of space at city hall.)
Post and Hopkins said they have not yet looked into what it would cost if the city were to decide to build a new police department building.
“This is a proposal for a possible new building in the future,” said Post. “The old armory is for sale, so we just used that as an example of what that could give us … or a new building in the future, based on issues that we’re having here now.”
Leonhard asked about how a new location might impact officer response times, with Post and Hopkins saying they should not change because officers are generally out patrolling rather than being at the station.
“I knew there were issues,” said Boggs, “and we talk about them one at a time. But to see them all together is pretty compelling.”
“It’s something to think about,” said Leonhard.
The board also approved the purchase of two new vehicles from John Jones Auto Group of Salem at a total of $48,414. The city will be trading in its current K-9 officer vehicle as well as the mayor’s car, which Boggs does not use.
In other police-related business, it approved: the hiring of Luke Darby and Josh Clark as police officers who will be sworn in today; spending $12,280 for required upgrades to the radio system; a new reimbursement amount — $14,997, which is up by about $3,000 — that officers must repay if they do not fulfill their three-year contract.
In other business, the board approved the following: hiring Brandon Swoveland as new street department employee; a leak adjustment for a water bill.
Portland police officers on Thursday made their pitch to the city’s board of works to begin considering the possibility of a new facility for the department.
Assistant police chief Erica Post and investigator Jeff Hopkins made the presentation to board members Portland Mayor John Boggs and Jerry Leonhard, absent Steve McIntosh, citing a variety of challenges the department currently has as it occupies the east side and the bulk of the second floor at city hall.
Among the key concerns were:
•Shared interview rooms and offices — There are no dedicated interview rooms, either for suspects or victims. Instead, offices double as interview rooms and the break room is used if those spaces are not available or already in use.
•Insufficient storage space — Case records and evidence storage areas are cramped, with files in many cases stacked floor to ceiling. “A lot of these are records that we have to retain for a number of years,” said Hopkins.
•A lack of parking — Currently, the city rents the bulk of its parking area from Dru Hall, who owns a property to the east of city hall. There are just a handful of parking spaces available on city hall property.
•Handicapped accessibility — Most of the current facility’s parking is in a stone lot. Some of the doors in the building do not accommodate wheel chairs. Training room is upstairs and does not allow for handicapped access.
While not necessarily suggesting it as an option, Post and Hopkins used the current Jay School Corporation administrative building — it is currently on the market at an asking price of $325,000 — as an example of what a new department site could provide.
Among the positives of such a site would be the ability to park police vehicles indoors. It also has more on-site parking, which is paved.
There would also be more space for document and evidence storage, the ability to have dedicated space for department leadership, officers and interview rooms.
“It would be nice for all the sergeants and what we call ‘brass’ to have their own offices,” said police chief Josh Stephenson, who was in attendance at the meeting.
In the case of the current school administration building, there are already cameras and other security features in place. It also has multiple handicapped-accessible entrances as well as about five acres of land that could be used for outdoor events such as the annual National Night Out.
Post also noted that the additional space would allow the department to host training sessions, which could bring in money through inviting other law enforcement officers to attend. (At times, Portland police had to use Portland Fire Department or Jay County Sheriff’s Office for training because of the lack of space at city hall.)
Post and Hopkins said they have not yet looked into what it would cost if the city were to decide to build a new police department building.
“This is a proposal for a possible new building in the future,” said Post. “The old armory is for sale, so we just used that as an example of what that could give us … or a new building in the future, based on issues that we’re having here now.”
Leonhard asked about how a new location might impact officer response times, with Post and Hopkins saying they should not change because officers are generally out patrolling rather than being at the station.
“I knew there were issues,” said Boggs, “and we talk about them one at a time. But to see them all together is pretty compelling.”
“It’s something to think about,” said Leonhard.
The board also approved the purchase of two new vehicles from John Jones Auto Group of Salem at a total of $48,414. The city will be trading in its current K-9 officer vehicle as well as the mayor’s car, which Boggs does not use.
In other police-related business, it approved: the hiring of Luke Darby and Josh Clark as police officers who will be sworn in today; spending $12,280 for required upgrades to the radio system; a new reimbursement amount — $14,997, which is up by about $3,000 — that officers must repay if they do not fulfill their three-year contract.
In other business, the board approved the following: hiring Brandon Swoveland as new street department employee; a leak adjustment for a water bill.
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