Larger cities are building smaller, less expensive police stations

Dec. 8 − To the Editor:

As the facts and figures emerge about the new police station proposal, I looked at the towns mentioned in the article today - three cities in Massachusetts that are all larger than Portsmouth - who have built new facilities in the last two years. I looked at population, size of police department and square footage of the new facility in all three cities, all of whom have larger populations than Portsmouth.

Beverly, Massachusetts stood out for me: Its population is 42,400+, almost double ours. They have 145 sworn officers and 98 full-time non sworn personnel. Their new station is 32,000 square feet and the price lower than any of our quotes as noted in the article.

Our police force is 62 sworn officers and 33 non sworn employees. The proposal for the new station is 57,000 square feet. Why?

Why do we need so large a facility when none of the larger cities do?

Leominster has 125 employees and 45,000 square feet. Shrewsbury’s building is 38,000 square feet ( but I don’t know the size of their department).

It’s hard for me to believe that restaurants and Prescott Park cause the need for so much space - and we all agree we don’t have a high crime rate.

I know about the mold issue - and that certainly is a health priority that must be corrected. I don’t know why all the efforts to correct it failed but I would hope someone does so we don’t repeat what caused it in a new building.

I hope the Council and our staff will do more research and answer the above questions. Linda Cunningham Portsmouth