Finally, appropriate facilities for Greenwich’s Finest

Entrance to the Town of Greenwich Public Safety Complex

Five years ago, I took part in the Civilian Police Academy offered by the Greenwich Police Department. I wrote about my experiences of my experiences in my Greenwich Time column:

It’s been a real eye-opener for us to see the conditions under which our law enforcers operate. … I’d read the newspaper stories about the need for a new police building, but seeing is believing. To say that our guys work in cramped, antiquated conditions is an understatement. I got hot under the collar after reading a recent letter to the Editor saying how it was ridiculous to spend money on the new building. What’s ridiculous is that in a town like Greenwich, where the per capita income is higher than in most places in the US and we prize our safe community, the Police Union has to buy officers bullet-proof vests, protection which should be part of their uniform, and that the facilities our officers work in are woefully inadequate for the needs of a modern police force.

A few weeks ago, Det. William Weissauer treated us to a demonstration of Crime Scene Investigation. It was fantastic to listen to someone who is vastly knowledgeable and so genuinely loves his work. Although on the eponymous TV show, CSI looks like glamorous work, in real life it takes meticulous attention to detail. Det. Weissauer and his colleague, Det. Stephen Hickey, try to do as much of the lab work as possible in a converted darkroom off their cluttered office (which also serves as evidence storeroom for cases currently in progress) because the state laboratory is so inundated that it can take months to get back results. And evidence on closed cases, which cannot be destroyed without a court order and should be kept in stable conditions, is stored in a cage in the garage. Chalk up another reason for the new police building.

I was only able to cover a fraction of the reasons why we needed a new police building in my short column. A leaking roof, inadequate data facilities for the modern age, no appropriate juvenile holding cells, the only overnight facilities for officers on double shifts was a closet with a bunk bed – these are just a few more of the inadequacies of the old buildings.

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This morning members of the Greenwich press corps were treated to a tour of the new facility by the ever-amusing Administrative Lt. Mark Kordick, who for the last 18 months has been liaising with people such as town Building Superintendent Alan E. Monelli, the project’s supervisor to try and get the new HQ up and running for a late September move-in.

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The 22,000 square foot, $46 million complex is certainly a tremendous improvement over the old police buildings. The entire facility is ADA compliant and eco-friendly, with occupancy sensors for the lights and HVAC systems. The number of holding cells has been increased from 13 to 17, including separate juvenile cells which were lacking in the old facility. Instead of having to bunk down in a closet if they are required to work double shifts, there are now two dorm rooms which can sleep 10 male officers and four female officers. Whereas previously the GPD had to “beg, borrow or steal” space for training, as Lt. Kordick so colorfully put it, at times using garage space, rooms in Town Hall or in Cos Cob Fire House, there are now dedicated training facilities for mandated annual training of officers.

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Perhaps most importantly for safety of town residents, the communications systems have been brought into the modern age. Whereas the old buildings were served by one seventy year old cable of dubious reliability that runs from the central phone office on Sherwood Place under Mason Street, the new facility is being serviced by new cables (including fiber optics) with routed diversity, running to the offices in both Greenwich and Port Chester, in order to give greater reliability. In addition to the main generator, there is also an eight hour battery back up in case the generator fails. These upgrades are particularly important since all of the town’s 911 calls are now routed through the GPD. The GPD also runs an 800 Mhz trunked radio system that is used by all of the town’s employees, including Police, Fire and Dept of Public Works.

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The additional $34 million required to move the Central Fire House out of the existing building Fire and Police building and complete the Public Safety Complex renovations to house the Fire Dept. Administration and GEMS in that building will be included in this fall’s budget proposals, and if it is approved work will start in July 2010.

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In the meantime, a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Police facility will be held on August 24th at 10am. The public is invited to see the new state-of-the-art facility and enjoy some light refreshments.

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