GPD gets a facelift, for safety

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$10,000 RENOVATION PROVIDES NEW COMBINATION LOCK DOOR

By BEN HOCKING
Reporter/Photographer

When someone decides to renovate a building, it typically is to impress some future guests or have a little extra space for the family. But when Police Chief Tom Sweet decided to upgrade the Glenrock Police Department, it was for primarily one reason: the safety of the officers in town.

The central focus of the $10,000 project was to pay for a steel combination lock door that would deny access to the space where the seven peace officers have their offices. Before the money was approved from the town’s general fund, there was no lock on the door and any civilian could walk into the offices and make contact with an officer unexpectedly.

“For years, anyone has been able to just come in and get back into any of these offices,” Sweet said. “This day and age that isn’t a very good thing.

“We like to think that nothing is going to happen in a small town like Glenrock, but it is often the case that it often does happen in small towns.”

Sweet said that there haven’t been any serious incidents of individuals coming into the offices and aggressively approaching any officers in his one and a half years as police chief.

“It’s really a security issue and a officer safety issue,” Sweet said. “We have had isolated incidents of people just walking around in here but it didn’t turn into anything major. They had potential to, but nothing has ever turned into a significant event.”

Also included in the renovation was the installation of new carpet throughout the GPD and the removal of two walls to reduce four offices into two. The newly renovated two office layout has one room serving as a squad room where officers do their reports, the other is used as the Lieutenant’s office. The dispatch supervisor’s office was moved from the renovated area to behind the dispatch window.

“This renovation was able to give the dispatch supervisor a lot more room and at the same time give the lieutenant more room as well,” he said. “We have essentially been able to double everyone’s workspace.”

Sweet said that he also looked into potentially converting the jail cells in the GPD into more office space for the building’s employees, but ultimately decided that the project wouldn’t be cost effective. He plans to continue to use the cells for storage purposes.

“Jail cells haven’t been used to house detainees here in years,” Sweet said. “We have pretty much converted those into storage to put our evidence. That way we know whatever is back there is secure.”

Overall, Sweet said that the renovations were made to ensure that everything in the GPD runs smoothly.

“Security was probably the first and foremost reason for the renovation,” he said. “But it has also made (Glenrock Police Department) a much more productive work environment.”

This is part of the July 29, 2010 online edition of The Glenrock Independent.

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