(Times have changed. A Plainfield police officer on traffic duty in the 1920s.)
Visiting police headquarters on Friday reminded PT of how badly the police division is in need of improvements to its physical facilities situation.
The handsome 'municipal moderne' police headquarters and courthouse at the corner of Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street is the victim of a good-news, bad-news situation.
The good news is that it is an extremely well thought out, solidly constructed and still perfectly serviceable building designed to house both the police division and the municipal court. The same cannot be said for many other such projects of the era -- the 1960s. A debt of gratitude is owed to the city fathers of the time for the wisdom to undertake and fund such a project. [This complex and the Public Library, which is of the same period, mark the last time Plainfield has made a significant investment in constructing new facilities.]
The bad news is that times have changed and the building is no longer adequate for the needs of the police division.
(A blueprint from 1972, showing changes to the 1960s police HQ already needed.
From the collection of the Plainfield Public Library.)
From the collection of the Plainfield Public Library.)
In the first place, the complex simply cannot house the numbers of personnel a modern police division needs. Not only do we have far more uniformed officers than 45 years ago, there are more civilian employees.
Records-keeping has become much more demanding than in the early 1960s, both as to the quantity of information gathered, processed and stored, and the number of people required to do so.
There was no such thing as 9-1-1 in the time when the facilities were built -- with the consequent need for more personnel and communications equipment.
The division has had to relieve some of these pressures by cramming more into the limited space of the facility, and by renting space in neighboring buildings [which, however, can never be as secure as having all the division's space directly within a public safety complex].
Did PT forget to mention parking?
The parking lot which was perfectly adequate for the 1960s fleet of police vehicles is hardly so for today's much higher numbers of cruisers and other vehicles.
Not to mention staff parking -- uniformed and civilian. There is spillover both into the street and the public parking lot across the street -- which is supposed to be backup for the parking at the totally occupied Plainfield train station lot.
Off-season storage for the community policing squad's bikes is another need. There is simply no place to put them in the present facility. And then we will have the Segways which are coming. None of this stuff can be left out in the elements -- unless the city intends to buy new every year.
PT has ranted about improving parking for the cops before [See "Parking: Progress and Woes," June 16, 2006].
It's time for the Council and the Administration to get serious about a situation affecting the effectiveness of our public safety professionals. It's only going to get worse if not addressed.
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CORRECTION -- In the June 29 post ["Two beatings"] about two beatings which were not reported by either the Courier or the Ledger, one was alleged to have involved a Plainfield cop. This has turned out not to be the case. My apologies to the fine, hardworking and underappreciated members of our police division. The entry has been corrected.
-- Dan Damon
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1 comment:
Dan, Since you comment that the present structure is solid, thought should be given to satellite locations, with an appropriate division of programs and responsibilities. This would benefit the community by spreading out the police presence. Properties and buildings are probably plentiful and cheaper at both ends of the City as well. If any of these properties did not have adequate storage for bicycles, do we hear the words "public storage units.?"
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