The Poplar Bluff Police Department will soon be relocating to a new state-of-the-art facility located at 911 Shelby Road in Poplar Bluff.
“Getting here today took a lot of people, city managers and council members and citizens and taxpayers,” said Robbie Myers, Butler County Emergency Management Agency director.
Myers introduced long-time Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley during the PBPD’s ribbon cutting and open house Saturday. He described Whiteley as having “the passion and the dogged determination” to make the new facility a reality.
Whiteley joked since the department’s formation in 1883, “it only took 139 years to construct a new police station.”
“This great building, in this location, with the technology and legal requirements needed to protect the citizens, officers and suspects safely and within their constitutional rights, will make the city a safer place now and in the next three to four decades,” he said.
Myers, along with Mayor Steve Davis, Whiteley, state Sen. Jason Bean and Poplar Bluff Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Dill, attended the ribbon cutting with several other prominent figures and about 300 residents from the area.
The total cost for construction of the new facility was $11.2 million, including design, construction, engineering and furnishings, which is according to City Manager Matt Winters. It came in almost $412,000 under the original projected budget.
“Although we do still anticipate one last change order when the total project is complete, the project will come in under budget. Our architect, Police Facility Design Group and contractor, Brockmiller Construction, have worked well with us to keep this project on schedule and under budget throughout the process,” said Winters.
The PBPD open house allowed the public the one-time opportunity to tour the new headquarters before the department fully moves in since some areas will later be closed to the public, such as the evidence room.
“Located near our schools, the hospital, our college and new business developments, this location will provide for a quick response of police resources,” said Davis. “A new building will not stop crime, but it will certainly give our officers an upper hand on keeping the community safe.”
Features include a vestibule open 24/7 at the front entrance, with interior doors leading into the building on a time lock. The vestibule also features a panic button that will lock the exterior doors, if residents feel they are in danger.
A public information room to the immediate left of the lobby will be utilized for press briefings, classes, presentations and a staging area for things such as Boy Scouts and school-related tours.
“There are ballistic-rated materials throughout the facility,” stated Deputy Chief Mike McClain.
The new 27,000-square-foot building seemingly has a room for everything. One multi-use room has a capacity of 112 people, and McClain said he looks forward to using it for multi-agency and interdepartmental training.
There are three interview and interrogation rooms and a waiting room, as well as a child-care room, which will be audio and video monitored 24/7.
The major case briefing room can be split into two rooms using soundproof dividers which double as dry erase boards.
Walls in sensitive areas are equipped with pressure strips slightly above the floor that sound an alarm if bumped into during a scuffle or emergency situation.
“The communications (dispatch) room reminds me of missile a launch site. Six big 65-inch TVs up there that will have all the monitors and cameras and stuff for security,” said Whiteley.
The dispatch room, which also serves as a tornado shelter, was the favorite for special reserve officer Shawn Cochran, who came to tour the facility with his mother and siblings. The reinforced walls can withstand a 3-second gust of up to 250 mph, McClain said. The dual purpose room was partially paid for through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant.
Grant funding also helped pay for an emergency generator that will keep the police department online during power outages.
Dispatchers will now be able to see in real-time where officers are thanks to the help of the new technology and large wall-mounted monitors.
“It’s really nice. The ceilings are so high,” said Poplar Bluff Junior High student Alyssa Cochran.
There are two separate locker rooms in the facility which house 50 lockers for male officers and 10 for female officers. The lockers have ventilation inside, with racks to dry bulletproof vests and gear, as well as a charging station for radios and other equipment.
“The Police Facility Design Group, they’re the architects that designed this,” said Whiteley.
The design group thought of several things, according to Whiteley and others, that they did not even know they needed.
“We kind of think we’re experts, these guys are experts, they know all the federal and state laws and what needs to be done — it’s been nothing but a wonderful experience,” he said.
The sentiment amongst officers and city leaders alike was the same, the new building has been a need for quite some time.
“It’s been a long time coming — we’re getting technology that has been around for 50 years, but we’re just stoked to have that,” said Darron Moore, PBPD administrative captain.
Moore also stated they will begin laying asphalt in the parking lot in the coming week.
The former PBPD location on Second Street was said to be in major disrepair.
“The ceiling in dispatch fell in, so they quickly started trying to get us moved,” said Dispatcher Tracy Ketcherside. “We did work out of what we called ‘McClain’s closet’ for a couple of months before they could get us moved, so we’re ready to be in the same building again with the guys.”
Dispatch has been located in a separate building on the campus of Three Rivers College for about seven years. They moved shortly before the police department was relocated to its current home, in rented space on Poplar Street.
According to Whiteley, being in the same building will enhance relationships between the divisions.
According to Poplar Bluff School Resource Officer Jason Courtney, it will be mid-September before the new facility will be fully operational, because “there are still some things that are on kind of backorder that hasn’t shown up yet.”
Dr. Jayne Niskey, mental health consultant to the PBPD, said, “For the officers, I think this is going to create less stress. The working conditions, in my opinion, have not been as private as they need for concentration.
“Now they each have their own space. It’s just more professional for them. They will be able to organize things better and feel like maybe they are in control of their desk and again it is safer for everyone.”