A week after making the move from a temporary modular unit behind City Hall, Police Chief Bob Burford said the transition to the new police services building at 1950 Main has been extremely smooth.
The new, nearly 10,000 square foot complex, was dedicated two weeks ago.
“I guess you would call it organized chaos at one point,” Chief Burford said with a laugh. “We never went down in terms of service to the public.”
Two dispatchers were brought on duty on transition day.
“We had one fire and one police frequency switched over and we switched the police to the alternate frequency,” Chief Burford said. “We had the phone company and the radio company on standby.”
The computer-aided dispatch system was put on hold temporarily and dispatchers used the card system for a few hours.
“About 11 a.m. we switched systems and there was no loss of service,” Chief Burford said. “We had a lot of our staff who had volunteered to come in and help move. Things went surprisingly smooth. We had to work out of boxes for a while.”
As with any major construction project, Chief Burford said there have been some bugs to work out.
“For example, the air conditioning in the dispatch center wasn’t working. It was about 84 degrees in there Monday at 8 p.m.,” Chief Burford said. “Also, there’s not cold water in the laundry area. It’s all stuff that can be worked out.”
In general, Chief Burford said, the new complex is going to work out very well.
“There are still a lot of features we haven’t had time to write procedures for,” he said. “We’re not going to write them until we spend some more time in the building.”
Chief Burford said he would like to see the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police working out of the complex.
“I think it would be good for Sweet Home,” he said. “That’s just that many more police officers we would have available and who would have a presence here.”
Administrative assistant Penny Leland said getting used to the size of the building has been interesting after having spent the last four years in the modular unit.
“Getting used to the intercity mail route is also different. Before, we just walked over to City Hall. Now, we have a courier who moves mail between the city buildings twice a day,” Leland said.
Sgt. Richard Culley said officers have found the new facility to be well laid out.
“There’s so much more room. There’s more privacy when you’re talking to suspects,” Sgt. Culley said.
Officer Rex Bostrom echoed those sentiments.
So far, the new jail area has held only one “prisoner” Boys and Girls Club director Kevin McLaughlin who was booked for one night as a fund raiser for the annual auction.
“Right now, we’re working under the previous regulation that we were a four hour holding facility,” Chief Burford said. “Once we get procedures written, we’ll ask the Department of Corrections to review us and move us up to a 36-hour facility.”
The complex includes three cells for adults and one for juvenile offenders.
An advantage of the new site is there is now room to present community programs, both in the large conference center, or outside on the paved parking lot.
“We had a bike rodeo and safety fair the morning after the dedication,” Chief Burford said. “These are the type of things our guys have wanted to do for a long time. We never had the space before. I can see us holding community safety classes in the conference area.”