The number of police officers in Bargersville has more than doubled in the past decade, and the town’s police station that started as a temporary home 10 years ago is running out of space.
The current police headquarters has little space for training or storing documents and evidence from investigations. The downtown location can make parking inconvenient for residents coming to request a police report or do a background check. And the current building isn’t wheelchair accessible, with four steps at its entrance, interim police chief Todd Bertram said.
Police officials worked with a builder on plans for a new station, ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, which would cost between $700,000 and $1.5 million, depending on the size of the building, what materials are used and what features it would have, Bertram said.
But now, the question is how the new police station would be paid for, Betram said.
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When the former police station next to the town hall was torn down about 10 years ago due to mold issues, the police headquarters moved to its 3,500-square-foot space. That move was intended to be temporary, but the department hasn’t had any luck finding a new home since, Bertram said.
Efforts to build a new station haven’t been successful due to challenges in finding the right location and getting funding for the project, which could cost more than $1 million, he said.
The town was considering borrowing money for the project, but high interest rates are a concern, and the town also is looking to use a piece of property that had been considered for the police station for a roundabout at County Road 144 and Morgantown Road, Bertram said. That means the police department will need to work with the Bargersville Town Council to find a way to move forward, he said.
The new station is needed due to the growth of the town and the police department, Bertram said.
Since 2010, the town’s population has grown by nearly 80 percent, or 3,000 residents. In 2010, Bargersville police responded to about 2,100 calls. That number jumped to more than 4,600 in 2016, according to data from the police department.
And the number of police officers has increased to keep up with that growth, from five at the start of 2009 to 11 currently. The department is working to hire one more officer, and looking at using a grant to hire three more officers, Bertram said.
The new station would be significantly larger than the current one, but the goal would be for the new building to last anywhere from 20 to 30 years, he said.
Ideally, the department would have a more central location, preferably along County Road 144, west of the downtown area, he said.
Also in the plans for the new building: a better security system with electronic locking, more room to store evidence, files and other records and a garage where investigators could keep a vehicle that is part of an investigation. Since they don’t have that space currently, when police need to keep a vehicle as part of an investigation, they have to work with another local department to arrange for storage, Bertram said.
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In the past decade, Bargersville has experienced rapid growth. Here’s a look at how both the town and police department have expanded:
Town population:
2010: 4,013
2016: 7,213
Number of calls police responded to:
2010: 2,119
2016: 4,623
Number of police officers:
2009: 5
2018: 11
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