WATCH ABOVE: The police department is asking city council to consider a new administrative building in the next capital budget. Jessica Kent explains.
EDMONTON — Overcrowding at the downtown police headquarters is so bad, the service wants council to approve a new building.
A report presented to the Community Services Committee Monday recommends council consider a new building as part of its 2019-2022 capital budget process.
“Space issues at the Edmonton Police Service Headquarters building have reached critical proportions,” the report reads.
“For example, there is an area within the Informatics Division in which there are 19 people in an office area designed for nine.”
The medium-term plan is to house specialized policing units at headquarters and move administrative employees to other office space, according to the report.
The long-term proposal is to have administrative staff work out of a separate administrative building. The current headquarters would serve as an operational facility for downtown division and several specialized units.
“There’s always going to be a challenge with how we spend our dollars that’s for sure,” said Councillor Dave Loken, “and God knows we have no lack of capital projects.
“Yes, I believe it will be a challenge, but we need to listen to what they have to say when they do come forward and we need to weigh what they have to say.”
The police administration building, which was deferred by city council in the 2015-2018 capital budget, would have space for up to 800 staff and would also accommodate future growth for up to 20 years, according to the report.
“As the downtown begins to grow and fill up I think it will be a challenge to find them adequate space down here,” added Loken. “But I don’t know that it necessarily means we need police, need everything centralized downtown either … What they’re saying is in the near-term, they’re going to keep operations here, but they are going to be looking for space starting in 2016 … additional space for administration so that most likely will end up down here somewhere.”
To address the immediate spacing issues, “the Edmonton Police Service is proposing that leased space be secured outside the downtown core for a period of at least ten years,” the report reads, adding this location would be cheaper and more accessible than a downtown facility.
In 2009, the Calgary Police Service opened a new police operations centre in the city’s northeast.
The facility cost about $125 million and was funded by the province and city, using $106.5 million from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative, and $18.5 million from The City of Calgary directly.
The CPS Westwinds Campus was built to consolidate services that were previously spread across 14 other buildings in Calgary, including the homicide, robbery and gang units.
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