Before a large crowd of city officials, police officers, and employees, this morning the mayor of Rock Island cut yellow, crime scene tape to dedicate the city's new police station. Construction of the $22 million building began nearly one-and-a-half years ago.
Police Chief Jeff VenHuizen says the old station is cramped, and for 75 years, his 110 employees have had to make do with less. For example, officers had to go to Augustana College to work out.Now officers can train here, including defense tactics with a special, "shoot, don't shoot" program. The building has a new, advanced dispatch center. It has a video wall that shows views from the cameras we have.
The new station on 5th Avenue also has break rooms which the department has never had before. It also has a large garage and a sallyport for indoor transfers of suspects between vehicles and the building.
Mayor DennisPauleysays the station is more than twice the size of the old one, at nearly 55,000 square feet. And the large lobby is much more welcoming.Two rooms are available for people to talk with officers privately. Our officers will enjoy working in this new building. And residents... well they might not be happy to visit but it'll be much better than in the past.
The Rock Island Police Department will give tours of the new station during an open house on Saturday from 10 am until 2 pm. The address is 12125thAvenue.
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