Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lincoln Police Move Into New Offices
SPACE HAS LATEST TECHNOLOGY, LARGE OFFICES, LOBBY, EVIDENCE LOCKER
LINCOLN — The Lincoln Police Department has moved from a small area behind the City Hall to occupying a much larger space on the west side of the Lincoln Water Department.
Most of the renovation work on the Police Department’s offices had been done inside the facility including new furnishings and paperwork moved over on Thursday morning.
“We’re done moving in,” Cpl. Brian Key said that afternoon. “It’s a professional office and has been a long time coming.”
“It’s excellent,” Patrolman Greg Gunn said about the new offices.
“We’re very excited and proud of the offices,” Chief Russell Morphis said. “The added space is nice. It’s an up-to-date modern facility and triples the size we had before.”
The chief’s office has a conference table and television so he can hold training sessions.
“This space also is a training and conference center,” said Al Videtto, city information technician, about the 16 feet by 18 feet police chief office, which holds a large desk on one side and a large conference table on the other. A large screen TV/monitor is located on a wall facing the desk and table, which will be used for training sessions.
“This can provide the police squad with in- house training sessions,” Videtto said, adding another television was set up in a squad bay that would allow officers to keep an eye on weather reports.
The new department has a concrete and steel evidence locker room and two other large offices, one with an interview area.
Videtto said there are cameras located in the offices and hallway for active surveillance. Doors inside the facility are set up to open with a badge system.
“This provides more security,” Videtto said, adding the computer system is also set up on a larger, more secure server. “This is such a big upgrade from the one we’ve had for many, many years.”
“I’m real pleased with the mayor [Rob Hulse] and city council for agreeing and helping us get new offices for the department,” Morphis said. “These are offices we can be proud of now when citizens come into it.”
Morphis said he didn’t know how long the police department had occupied the area it moved from, which was only about 200 squarefeet. “I remember taking field trips there when I was in middle school. The police were probably there at least 50 years.”
Outside work on the facility will be done soon and will include leveling the ground and building a parking area, according to Chuck Wood, city business manager. Current access is through the front door, which brings citizens into the Water Department office. A secure doorway then leads to the Police Department.
“We’re planning to even- tually consolidate all city offices in this building,” Wood said last month about the large facility, located on the downtown square, which now houses both the Water Department and Police Department.