Excerpt from Journal-News article dated March 11, 2021.
Monroe’s new police station was designed and built to serve officers and residents today and into the future, said police Chief Bob Buchanan.
The police department moved its operations last week from the lower level of the City Building to the renovated building that formerly housed the IGA grocery store. The department went from 5,000 SF in the City Building to 25,000 SF of its own.
“We love it,” Buchanan said. “We have the space to grow.”
During a tour Tuesday with the Journal-News, Officer Joshua King, community service officer for the department, talked about the numerous improvements and amenities.
“This has been great for us,” he said. “Truly awesome.”
Some of the walls and windows inside the station are bullet resistant and concrete blocks are filled for officer and public safety, King said.
The police station includes a community room open to the public, dispatch center, numerous offices, training room, evidence processing area, squad room, men’s and women’s locker rooms, lockers for SWAT and honor guard members, tornado safe room, fitness center and physical therapy area, a 300-degree training simulator that will allow officers to experience real-life scenarios in-house, three holding cells each with a bed and a toilet, four work stations with adjusting desks to allow officers to stand or sit while completing their paperwork, and a gated parking area for the officers’ personal and work vehicles.
For more information, read the Journal-News article here.