Pros and Cons of a New Idaho Falls Law Enforcement Building
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This week’s poll question asks about supporting a new law enforcement building, so let’s look at the pros and cons:
Pros:
- The current building is small and cramped and some have offices in what used to be closets.
- The evidence lab is tiny.
- The interview rooms are tiny and have little privacy and their size and location hinder doing good interviews.
- Rumor has it that land has been promised to the city if they build in a new station in the Taylor Crossing area. This would save money.
Cons:
- Cost, cost, cost (early estimates are $8-12 million).
- Moving the police station would put it far away from the courthouse.
And some other things to consider:
Half the department are patrol officers working out of their car. Do they really care one way or the other if they get a new station since they are hardly ever there? The ones I’ve talked to have said a new station would be nice but it’s not a priority for them. A few who live in the city intend to vote no if a bond comes forward - they’d rather see the money go to something more useful like getting staffing up to recommended levels for a city this size (they are currently down 5 officers from IFPD normal which is about 20 below nationwide average) or actually giving a cost of living raise for once since the IFPD just ten years ago was the 2nd best paying in the state and is now around 25th.
Most of the officers who do work in the station don’t live in Idaho Falls so they won’t be affected by the tax burden. It’s easy to support higher taxes to better your job when you don’t have to pay those taxes. The chief of police doesn’t live in Idaho Falls. Most of the Captains don’t either. Most of the lieutenants the same. Steve Hunt, the guy the department has put in charge of the new building campaign, doesn’t even live in Bonneville county. No wonder they are all so gung-ho for a new building.
The IFPD isn’t using space wisely. They recently rented out office space across the street with huge rooms and offices. Instead of doing the smart thing like putting the interview rooms, crime lab, and stuff like that over there they gave those rooms to certain personnel for private offices which gives them far more room than they possibly need.
I’d encourage anyone to think long and hard before voting yes on this. In my opinion, there are other options and more important priorities.
To give a good example of one option look at what the Pocatello PD did. They renovated an abandoned big box building of which Idaho Falls has many. It was much cheaper than building a new one and it’s now a very nice building. Rumor has it that the chief wants a “new building” so he won’t even consider this. This is the option I’d support both for the cost savings and the fact it would get rid of one of our empty boxes. Imagine if they took over the old Ernst building which is an eyesore on Broadway. Or the old Fred Meyer building which is conveniently located next to the jail. It’s a win win situation in either location.
What do you think?
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Comments
Vote:
0 
0 I like your ideas, but I thought I had heard the old fred meyer building was being used for a storage warehouse right now? I don’t know what that deal’s lease terms are though.
Vote:
0 0 IFPD spouse here.
I like meso’s idea in post #1. I don’t know if its feasible or not though since it would require getting the city and county on board together and that would almost be like getting Hilary Clinton and Rush Limbaugh to agree.
As to the new building. Clearly, being on the inside my spouse sees the need. What we don’t understand is the need for a “new” building. I like the idea of doing what Pocatello did and renovating an old box building. Chief Livsey without much comment immediately has dismissed this idea when its been brought up saying it would actually cost more but I’d like to see that in numbers rather than take his word for it. I realize that buying the building, renovating, and getting it up to code might cost a lot but I want to see the possibility addressed publicly with figures, not just immediately dismissed because that makes it sound like he just wants a new building and isn’t considering all options.
At the end of the day, my spouse and I don’t care much either way. A new building would be nice but my spouse spends as little time in the one we have as possible (being away from upper management is good in any job LOL) and it would be the same in the new one.
Also, there is talk of combining a new police station with a new fire station. That too should be addressed publicly.
Vote:
0 0 I think the city needs to get serious about improving its infrastructure overall, not just the Police Station. How old is City Hall?, Why not a joint city government building?, City Hall/Police Station/Central Fire Station. Not to get off pint from the subject of discussion but why is it that we never hear anything publicly from the Chief of Police, its always one of his minions, new police station, new bomb squad (thats died down since Capt Smart got with reality that DHS wasn’t going to bump LAPD or NYPD just to get two of his boys in bomb school).
Vote:
0 0 (thats died down since Capt Smart got with reality that DHS wasn’t going to bump LAPD or NYPD just to get two of his boys in bomb school). ????? The boys are in bomb school as you posted that little bit of misinformation!! As for using an existing building, the City council and Mayor want the building to be in the down town area. The US Bank building is the only building that is a possibility but it is still too small and major reconstruction will have to be done to accomodate everything that is required of a police station. ?Parking? If you need to know the facts about a new police building and why, contact officer Steve Hunt, I am sure he can share factual data with you.
Vote:
0 0 The problem with this new building is: they tell us the price tag will be 8 - 12 million dollars, but I’ve seen this type of thing happen in other cities. They get into the project and unforseen circumstances arise, additional costs are added, and the total price ends up being 5-7 million dollars OVER their original quote. And who gets stuck footing the bill?? You & I…John Q Taxpayer that’s who!
Besides, the police station and the courthouse should be next to each other. Otherwise we’re going to end up paying to transport prisoners from the jail to the courthouse each day.
I say build on the existing site and renovate what they have. They’ve done just fine thusfar, its just another way to milk the public and get us to pay more taxes. That 8-12 million dollars could go towards alot more important projects needed around this town.
Vote:
0 0 The jail and the courthouse are already across town from each other. I don’t know if prisoners are being transported daily, but I do know that many of the court proceedings are done through an audio/video link between the jail and the courthouse. I remember when they decided to build the jail out there that people were concerned about all of the prisoner transportation required. It’s not as big a deal these days with the videoconferencing equipment.
As for myself, I am very skeptical about the need for a brand new building, and unless I find out some new information to persuade me otherwise, I will vote against it. I haven’t seen any real evidence of the need, just propaganda. A few months back one of the local news stations did a tour of the police department, and showed how overcrowded the building was. I think a lot of that was just for show. How about letting us see how crowded the rented space across the street is? If it’s true that there is wasted space just so some people can have big offices, they should make better use of what they already have.
Vote:
0 0 The jail is behind the old Fred Meyer/Grand Central building on Yellowstone. That property has not been seriously been used for years. I am sure the seller would love to off load it cheaper than some downtown property owner that would have incentive to gouge the city taxpayers. The city should just buy that property and renovate it to meet their needs.
You have parking galore, proximity to the jail, a central location in the city, and existing infrastructure that will keep some costs down.
Vote:
0 0 The entire property (from ye old Fred Meyer building to the Albertson’s to the lot line up against Pizza Hut) should be bulldozed down and a little neighborhood put in there.
You could have a new district like Taylor Crossing go in there, with residential, commercial, and government buildings. It would be much better than the huge parking lot sea with ye old empty buildings.
Either the city could buy it, parcel their part near the jail for a new building, and sell it to a developer. OR a developer could buy it up, bulldoze it all down, and sell the city the spaces near the jail as part of a designed community plan.
Modern developments don’t need to only happen by the river. A modern, designed community in this location could launch a growth spurt in this part of town for years to come.
Vote:
0 0 It would be NIMBY in reverse (Not In My Back Yard). Nobody will want to be located next to the jail. However, I agree it is an eyesore and it should be spruced up and utilized.
Vote:
0 0 I disagree with the above remark. I think in these tough economic times we need to rethink our old ways of thinking. For more information visit http://www.alaskapersonalinjurylawyer.net
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Vote:
The old Fred Meyers and Albertsons stores on N. Yellowstone & Anderson have been vacant for many years now. The infrastructure is in place…acres of paved parking and just a hop skip and a jump away from the city jail on Hemmert Ave. It would seem an ideal spot for city/county courtrooms and police station with lots of room, left over for attorney office space, title companies and bail bondsmen, etc. The present court house leaves one mostly frustrated over the lack of parking.
The city/county could purchase this property for a small fraction of what it would cost to build a new building and parking to accomodate everyone, even after remodeling.
The old court house could be turned into shops and restaurants. We could do away with the dangerous parking situation (middle of the road) that now exists on Memorial Drive. That road could be transformed into a beautiful wide riverfront avenue with bicycle/pedestrian access and would do this city proud.