Architects 70% done on drawings for new PBPD

Architectural drawings for a new Poplar Bluff Police Department are about 70% complete, according to city manager Matt Winters.

The project is expected to go out for bid near the end of 2020, with construction to start in February or March. The building would open in the summer of 2022, under the current schedule, Winters said.

The city has spent about $450,000 on plans specific to the 58-acre Shelby Road location, which was purchased by council members in early 2020 for just over $1 million.

The cost-to-date for the plans is based on what has been paid, and work that has been completed but not yet billed, said Winters.

The city is working with consultant Navigate and an architecture firm, Police Facility Design Group of Kansas City. PFDG was unanimously approved by the city council earlier this year.

“Financially, the majority of that $450,000 would be gone (if the location changed now) because that building was designed specifically for that site,” Winters said Thursday.

In discussion Monday, city council members discussed whether to ask voters in April if the police department should move forward with the Shelby Road location. Council members voted 4-3 against seeking a vote of the public on the matter.

“There would be a portion of that we could use in another location, but it would be basically starting from the beginning,” said Winters. “Even more than financially, the police department staff has spent countless hours working with architects on what has been put into the planning of this building.”

An $11.6 million project is planned and will be financed over 25 years.

“What I think a lot of people don’t think about is the fact that the police department is kind of like your patrol car, it’s where a lot of work gets done,” said PBPD Chief Danny Whiteley. “Det. Danny Hicks has hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funded equipment for the cybercrime division working on child pornography and internet scam crimes.

“Det. Daniel Mustain processes every piece of evidence that’s brought in through his division. Evidence is one of the most crucial parts of the whole department. If you make a mistake in an evidence storage facility, you’ve lost pretty much every case in there.”

Raid and riot gear for patrol officers is stored at the department, along with a “home away from home” for officers through the locker rooms.

“The police department is a tool of the job, it’s not just some place for the chief and deputy chief to host seminars and public announcements,” Whiteley said.

__How big will the new PBPD be?__

The Shelby Road building would be approximately 26,000 square feet, a reduction from both the police department’s former home and earlier estimates for a new building.

The police department’s former facility on Second Street included nearly 35,000 square feet. A 2015 study by Dille & Traxel Architecture estimated a new police department would need to be almost 32,000 square feet.

__What will the new PBPD include?__

PBPD staff and operations are currently spread out across five different locations: a facility on Poplar Street, a communications hub at Three Rivers College and three facilities to hold evidence.

The new building will include:

• A dispatch center, which will be staffed 24 hours a day. It will include new communications equipment funded by a recently-received grant.

• Four holding cells, two for male prisoners, one for female prisoners and one for juvenile prisoners. Holding cells for male, female and juvenile prisoners must include sight and sound separation.

• Evidence processing facilities large enough to hold vehicles, and evidence storage. The PBPD is required to preserve evidence for cases for different lengths of time, some forever and some for a specific number of years.

• 8-10 offices, a squad room for patrol officers, male and female locker rooms and workspace for detectives.

• 3-4 witness and suspect interview rooms.

• A meeting space. The PBPD serves as the emergency operations center for the county during major disasters or other events that require coordinated resources to protect the public. This includes hosting multiple responding agencies during past historic floods and hosting daily and weekly briefings for all agencies assisting with response to COVID-19 in Butler County.

__How does the new PBPD stack up to other recently completed police facilities in Southeast Missouri?__

The Jackson Police Department opened a new 18,000 square foot facility over the summer. The cost was $6.5 million.  Areas within the building include administration, a community/training room, booking, detention, investigations, patrol, property/evidence, staff support and public, according to information previously shared by the Southeast Missourian.

The Jackson Police Department includes 27 staff members including command, patrol, school resource officers and criminal investigators, according to its website, which does not list communications personnel.

The Poplar Bluff Police Department has 37 staff members, including administration, two patrol shifts, a K-9 officer, cyber crimes, evidence technician, code enforcement, narcotics, school resource officers and animal control, according to its website. It also has four communications officers.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol Statistical Analysis Center reports the PBPD saw 251 arrests in 2018 for the crimes of simple assault, weapons, disorderly conduct and vandalism, compared to a total of 56 arrests by the JPD during the same time for the same crimes. The most recent data available from the center was for 2018.

The PBPD saw more than 56,000 calls for service in 2017, compared to about 35,000 calls for service in 2008, said Whiteley. More than 1,600 total arrests were made in 2017.

The population of Poplar Bluff grows exponentially each day, Whiteley said, because it is a hub for so many area counties. Residents come in from a wide area for work, shopping and medical care.