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Date: 11/10/2016
HAMPDEN – The town of Hampden’s new nearly $3 million police station has received positive reactions from residents after an open house took place last month.
Police Chief Jeffery Farnsworth said he believes the new station is a state-of-the-art facility that allows the department to do its job “the way we’re supposed to do it.” The department moved into its new 7,000 square-foot station on Sept. 6 on Allen Street. The former station was 990 square feet and located in Town Hall.
“The town was gracious enough to allow us to build this new facility and I think by evidence of our open house was absolutely packed and the town came out to see it,” he explained. “I think it’s pretty evident that we’ve been good stewards of the money that we were given. We brought the building in ahead of schedule; it wasn’t due to be completed until October, and on budget. There were zero cost overruns.”
He added there might be some money left over from the project, but added he doesn’t know the exact amount at this time.
Hampden is currently involved in examining the possibility of a six-town Regional Emergency Communications Center (RECC) alongside the communities of Southwick, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Ludlow, and Wilbraham.
When asked if the new stations technology would function well with equipment for a RECC, Farnsworth stated the two would be “absolutely” compatible.
Police Sgt. Michael Cooney gave Reminder Publications a tour of the new station on Oct. 26 and stated the front lobby of the new station features a medical disposal box donated by CVS, a display case of memorabilia chronicling the department’s history, and bulletproof walls and glass behind which the dispatchers are stationed.
He added the department also has an improved record storage area for personnel files.
“I would say it’s a great improvement because in the old station most of our records were in boxes,” Cooney said. “Some of them were on top of the cells. Some of them were in a records room that was located away from the station in a different part of Town Hall. So, records were all over the place and locating them was a challenge. If we had to break out an old case, say from 1989, it takes some effort to locate that case.”
The new station also features improved security, he explained. At both entryways to cells there are secure firearm storage boxes on the walls for officers to place their weapons inside when booking prisoners. Most of the doors also require key fob access. Anyone without a certain level of access cannot open rooms such as the department’s firearm storage.
There are also male and female locker rooms, which is something the old station did not have, Cooney said. Another issue with the old station was there weren’t enough lockers for patrol officers and part-time officers.
He noted each sergeant has their own dedicated desk with a personal computer. Prior to moving into the new station, the department’s three sergeants each shared one desk and computer.
The department also gained more surveillance improvements, including new cameras and the ability to record interactions in rooms throughout the station such as the interrogation room and the cells, Cooney said.
There is also a sally-port for prisoner transfers to the booking area, he noted. If a prisoner attempted to escape, an officer could easily close the port doors to prevent the suspect from fleeing.
“I’ve been here 22 years full-time and it was a big morale boost to move into a modern facility,” Cooney said.