Idaho Falls Police want new building to consolidate department

IDAHO FALLS — After years of service to the community, officials say the Idaho Falls Police Department building needs to be retired.

For years, the police department has been expanding from its home at the Bonneville County Courthouse outward and is now spread between eight different buildings. Officials say this is costing the taxpayers money, it provides an uncomfortable environment and limits the department’s ability to work cohesively.

“We’ve just run out of room,” Idaho Falls Police Capt. Steve Hunt told EastIdahoNews.com. “That’s the reason we have these offsite buildings because we’ve just have no space over there anymore. That building is shared with the courts, the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s office, the Sheriff’s office is in there. It’s just out of room.”

It may still be some time until the police department can get a new building, but it is a project that is in the works. Costs associated with the project have not yet been discussed.

Recently, an architecture firm was brought in to help the police department know exactly what they will need for a new building.

James McClaren, from McClaren, Wilson & Lawrie, Inc. is internationally recognized for his work on law enforcement, city hall and forensic laboratory facilities. After taking a tour of what the police department currently has, he pointed out some major flaws.

“If you wanted to pick every feature in a building that could work against you doing your job, they are a perfect showcase,” McClaren said. “If you walk through the building like I did, you’re going to see a dazzling array of ‘get it done and make do.'”

He talked about ventilation with cardboard tubes directing air and modified light fixtures to try and prevent glare over the computers in the records room.

“Its pre-ADA (Americans with Disabilities act of 1990) so, if you role in in a wheelchair to get a copy of a police report the records clerk says all they can see is the hand above the counter waiving at them from the person in the wheelchair,” he said.

McClaren explained that building a law enforcement facility has a lot to do with community and law enforcement ideologies.

“When I walk into the building that houses the police department downstairs and the courts upstairs, I know they’re sharing the same back door,” McClaren said. “The whole concept of a building that shares courts and police, to me, is flawed.”

He explained police are focused on enforcing laws, not justice. Justice is the matter of the courts.

“To me, this will be a great opportunity, frankly, to create, philosophically, the right distribution between these two entities.”

Community outreach is one of the things McClaren explained that needs to be considered when building a new facility. He said the idea of community outreach as a part of crime prevention is an idea that dates back to Sir Robert Peel.

Peel created the first organized police force in London in 1829. One of his principles on policing is that successful policing leads to the absence of crime.

“One of the things that would be nice about a new facility is having a much larger training, classroom space than what we have,” Hunt said. “Where we could actually host neighborhood watch meetings. Neighborhood watch meetings, public safety meetings or training sessions, there are all kinds of things you could do with that.”

McClaren and Hunt expressed that they want to make sure when a new building is built that it is built with enough room for the department to continue to grow. They hope to last a long time without having to build another building so they can save the taxpayers money.

Hunt said their current facilities, besides not having enough space, don’t provide what the police department needs in all aspects of modern law enforcement.

“It was a great building when it was built,” McClaren said. “It has served you well for many years but like any tool that wears out — this one’s worn out. It wore out a long time ago.