Speakout: Proposed site for new police station in Brookings is a bad idea

By Jeff West | Brookings

The proposed location for the new police department building is next to Medary Elementary School. It is also close to Brookings High School. There are a number of reasons why this is a poor choice.

1. The traffic congestion around these schools in the morning, afternoon and lunch time at the H.S. creates a problem for responding officers. This is a residential area too which also begs the question, why here?
2. Sirens are going to be disruptive to students. Especially autistic students at Medary.
3. Sporting events at Medary and the high school also create opportunities for accidents and traffic congestion around the police facility potentially creating delays in officer response times.
4. After spending $19 million the new facility will be too small the day it opens and there is no room for expansion for dispatch, admin or officer needs.
5. There are no garages to store the Command Control trailer, the SRT vehicle or the side-by-side ATV.
6. There are no garages for vehicle inspections or police vehicle preparation. This will be brutal for officers in the winter and not fun in the summer.
7. Sex offender registrants will be going into an elementary school area which is designated a safe space. Why does anyone think this is a good idea?
8. There were no police officers on the selection committee. No input from the people who will using the facility during the site selection process.
9. The proposed land swap between the city and school district is odd and bears scrutiny.
10. We do not need the proposed park next to the police station. We have more parks and ball fields than a city our size normally has. The officers are not going to be engaging with people in the park.
11. The other 16 possible sites that were deemed not appropriate during the three-year selection process have not been shared with the public. The proposed location was only recently disclosed.
12. It appears this proposed project is much further down the road than we are being told looking at the glitzy propaganda.
13. I attended one meeting where none of the comments about the location were positive and Ive been told that was the case at the second meeting as well.
14. We were told the location is an advantage as it is almost dead center in the city but the officers patrol in their vehicles with all of the technology they need and have two substations they can use if needed. The actual location of the facility is almost irrelevant considering the size of our city and how police conduct their jobs most of the time.

The city seems to have made up its mind about this project. I hope someone in the affected area starts a petition to eliminate this site or get it on a ballot so the community can actually have a say in its own future. If you have the opportunity, ask a police officer about it.