Space is at such a premium at the Peterborough Police Service station that even the police chief has to change his uniform in his office.
“People want more police officers — we have no place to put them,” Chief Stuart Betts said. “There are no more lockers to add more people. Some officers change in their offices — that includes the chief of police … we’re just bursting at the seams.”
On Thursday, Betts provided Global News with a short tour of the station on Water Street, reiterating his recent call for a new station after 911 services went down for about 35 minutes on May 31. A tripped aging electrical panel was to blame.
“We were able to see phone calls coming in, however, we were unable to see the full nature of what those calls were,” said Betts. “We haven’t received any reports of concerns during that particular period of time. But any longer, I would have had some serious concerns.”
That issue joins a long list of infrastructure concerns Betts outlined for the 35,000-square-foot building which first opened in 1968.
“From the outside, it probably looks like a pretty decent facility – from the inside, we are jam-packed,” he said.
Rooms that should only have two employees house six; hallways are lined with boxes and cabinets due to a lack of efficient storage. What were once meeting rooms —including the community room — are being converted for use as office space.
Even one of the station’s cell blocks has been converted into storage space.
“We have to turn sideways in some of our areas to get access to rooms,” said Betts. “That’s just what we can hold in this facility. We rent space throughout the city in order to store things. We just can’t store within this facility anymore.
“The only room I can hold meetings in is the Police Service Board’s meeting room. And in order to get that you have to walk through the chief’s office area to have access.”
One major concern is the communications centre that “needs to be expanded” to accommodate the new digital 911 system by March 2025, mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
Dubbed “Next Generation 911,” or “NextGen 911” the system will allow 911 to accept texts, photos and videos — all old 911 analog systems have to be decommissioned by the deadline.
“The technology and infrastructure have to be in place first in order for us to accommodate that,” said Betts. “So we have to open up more walls and have to increase and enhance the technology we already have or we will not be in the position to provide those services.
“Come 2025 there’s the switchover and it’s not optional — we have to be ready.”
Price tag
The search for a new police station continues by a facility committee comprised of city staff, police staff and community members. An architect’s report in 2019 first estimated the cost of a new police station would be $46.9 million. That price tag has since increased to $68 million in 2021.
City councillor Andrew Beamer, the city’s finance committee chairperson, says the city is aware it needs to proceed with a new facility that has been in the city’s capital line budget for over a decade.
“It will take several years but that process has started,” he said.
The next step is for the police service to find a suitable location — preferably to remain in the downtown core.
Betts says time is of the essence to find the service a new site.
“The longer we wait, the more expensive things are getting,” he said. “Certainly it’s our intention to expedite that process and do it as cost-effectively as possible, but things aren’t getting cheaper, so the longer this is put off, the more expensive it’s going to be down the road.”
Community open house
The public will have an opportunity to tour the station as part of a community open house on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the station at 500 Water St. Tours will be held 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
The service will also hold demonstrations from various units including the K9, emergency response team (rappel team) and remote piloted aircraft system as well as its police vehicles.
Residents can also learn about policing as a career.
Betts says the urgency for a new station has reached a level where “everyone agrees it has to be done now.”
“The age and date of this facility has shown itself and it’s time to move — and it’s time to move now,” he said.
“People want to see more from their police, more officers, more support staff — they expect more technology. Quite frankly, we’re pushing the absolute limits of our ability to provide that.”
— with files from Sam Houpt, Global News Peterborough