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Facts and Historical Items
Headquarters
August 2001
This view of the new station is from the north, looking south.
Waterford Township Hall is in the background.
At the time of this photo, the building was nearing completion.
Features of the New Police Station
The 58,000 square foot police station project was completed the fall of 2001 (
see slide show below). The new station's lower level provides holding cells for arrested individuals, a firing range, the dispatch center and has four garages. One garage is used for storage and also houses the department's motorcycles and bicycles. One garage is used by the forensics team. The remaining two garages lead to the holding cells in the lower level. This allows officers to transport those in custody directly to their cells while remaining inside the station with increased security. From the lower level, an enclosed passage way links the station to the nearby 51st District Court building. This adds another level of security for officers transporting prisoners to the court for hearings.
The upper level has two large training rooms. The largest will accommodate 40 people and will be used to train our officers and officers from other communities. It will also be available for use by other Township offices. The smaller training room will be used for small group instructions, such as defensive tactics. In addition to lockers, there is an exercise room for employee use. The upper level also houses all of the standard offices, like the Records Bureau, the Detective Bureau, and Administrative offices.
One unique design feature is an atrium meeting area. This is the area where staff will go to pick up their mail and be able to mingle in this area throughout the day. The atrium will facilitate and encourage the various bureaus/divisions in the department to discuss cases and share information.
Outside, in the back parking lot, the patrol vehicles will be kept in new carports. In bad weather, this will allow the officers a speedier departure because they won't have to scrape snow or ice off of a vehicle before responding to an emergency.
The building was featured in the January, 2002 issue of CAM Magazine, the trade journal for the Construction Association of Michigan. That article is reprinted below.
CAM Magazine Article - February 2002 - Worth the Wait
Click on an image below to see larger version and captions.
