Edmonton police call for new headquarters to relieve overcrowding
The lack of space at Edmonton police headquarters has renewed the call for a new building, although councillors say it could take a decade to approve.
"Space issues at the Edmonton Police Service headquarters building have reached critical proportions," notes a report, submitted to Edmonton's Community Services Committee on Monday.
It stated that increased staff and technological changes led to the overcrowding. In some cases, offices are packed with two, or three, times as many workers as recommended.
Specialized police units are now leasing space in other parts of the city, which the report notes is an expensive solution which causes problems when it comes to sharing information.
A new or expanded police headquarters has been on council's radar for nearly 20 years. During last year's budget planning, a proposal for a new administration building was deferred.
The report recommends a new building to house the department's administrative staff, leaving the current building for the downtown division officers and specialized police units.
Mayor Don Iveson said a new police building is a long way off; the approval process alone taking five to 10 years.
"We know they'll need space, we know they're growing and we know they've outgrown headquarters," he said.
"So we'll continue to work with the (police) commission when they actually resolve some discreet options and some costing. Then we'll drill down a little bit further, but I don't think there's any dispute that they're packed in pretty tight at headquarters."
The report said a new building could provide the room the police force needs for the next 15 to 20 years, although it added that the original plan may no longer work as EPS now plans to include a larger indoor firing range, which may leave less space for other facilities.
Given the fact that a new building could be more than a decade away, EPS is proposing leasing space outside the downtown for the time being to allow them to ease the overcrowding at headquarters.
That proposal will be presented during the next budget deliberations.
