Updated design approved for new CS Police Headquarters

1,940 Views | 13 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by AgGunNut
Captn_Ag05
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AG
http://www.kbtx.com/content/news/Council-approves-design-for-future-College-Station-Police-Depatment-468907893.html

Updated design in link. Price bumped up slightly to $28.5 million.
Captn_Ag05
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AG
Can someone remind me the location?
Kitten With A Whip
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Captn_Ag05 said:

Can someone remind me the location?
I believe the new location is at Krenek Tap and Dartmouth.
duffelpud
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AG
"What's this button do?"
Fonzie Scheme
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AG
I giggled.
Stupe
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S
College Station is growing and with growth, unfortunately, comes more crime. The current station is ridiculously inadequate for the size of the town and a new station is needed. I would rather them spend the money to do it correctly than get hit with another bond for "upgrades and repairs" three years after completion.

I really don't see why there are so many issues with this.
Kitten With A Whip
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What is to become of the current police station? Considering the location of the new one, I presume that one is closing. It seems to me they could have put one in south College Station, alleviating some issues at the current station and keeping it open, as well.
UmustBKidding
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Their attempts at branch stations have been utter failures. My objections to proceeding with construction is that they are taking what I think are bad decisions like not participating in the superior county 911 system and telling us why their branch attempts were failures when everyone else does them successfully and baking them into a very expensive building.
Their decision to not fund with bonds is an obvious strategy to force this because they know the voters would demand lots of explanation before they buy this
AgGunNut
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AG
The current building will be repurposed for other city departments to alleviate having to build for them.

As for keeping it a PD and building another somewhere further south, it's been said in past threads to great extent why that isn't the best option. One large reason is duplication of services between two buildings. It gets just as costly pretty quick. Like Bryan, CS isn't large enough (geographically) for two stations to make practical sense when most patrol officers aren't using the station during their shift. Their job is to be it and about, spread over the city. Nonpatrol officers, support staff, and evidence storage are who/what's piling up in the current building. There is also no space for training in the current facility because what was used for it has had to be reallocated for other things over time.

With all the outrage over where the building is and why a new larger building instead of additional building, it begs the question, "Was there similar outrage when Bryan built a larger facility right across the street from their old one?"

Question: Why is BC 911 superior? CS has one of a very few number of accredited dispatch centers in the state.
Captn_Ag05
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AG
Maybe the funding for the building is coming from a different source than staffing would, but what is the plan for hiring additional officers? The CSPD and city leadership have said many times recently that the department is significantly understaffed after the growth of the city. Will there be 10-20 new positions created in the foreseeable future? Even if the funding is coming from different resources, I think the complaint of not enough money to hire the officers needed will be laughed at by citizens when building a new HQ costing $28 million (even if new space is needed).
AgGunNut
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AG
Short answer...they're both needed.

Minimum staffing for patrol floats around 8 officers at any given time. There might for more working such as a couple supervisors, bike officers assigned to Northgate (a total of 6-8 when fully staffed), and motorcycle officers (a total of 6 when fully staffed) given time of day, but considering things like training, earned time off, sick and parental leave, staffing gets whittled down quickly...for a town of roughly 120k people.
Captn_Ag05
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AG
AgGunNut said:

Short answer...they're both needed.

Minimum staffing for patrol floats around 8 officers at any given time. There might for more working such as a couple supervisors, bike officers assigned to Northgate (a total of 6-8 when fully staffed), and motorcycle officers (a total of 6 when fully staffed) given time of day, but considering things like training, earned time off, sick and parental leave, staffing gets whittled down quickly...for a town of roughly 120k people.
I don't disagree and I am not opposed to the new station. I think it is smart and hopefully will be designed in a way to serve the city well for a long time in the future. But, I can see the perception and PR issues of building it IF the needed new officers aren't going to be hired. Anyone know if new officers are on the way in the near future?
AgGunNut
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AG
Constantly hiring. Staffing plagues most medium to large departments now days.

As for PR issues, it's one more to stack up. There is no pleasing everyone when it comes to how a police department is ran/budgeted/(insert any other applicable verb).
Captn_Ag05
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AG
There is a difference between constantly hiring and expanding. I'm interested in whether the department is hiring new roles, not just replacing open ones.
AgGunNut
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AG
I should have worded that better. Constantly hiring to fill vacancies with intentions to expand due to being behind the curve with growth and expected growth.
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