POLICE IN THE CITY

Bangor officials are prudent to consider ways to save money on a much-needed new police station. However, moving the facility out of downtown may cost less now, but the city will pay for this decision for years to come.

Next week, city councilors will be presented with the results of a review of the costs of building a new police station on Main Street, the location approved by the City Council last year, vs. moving the police to space to be vacated by the University of Maine System. The chancellor’s office and other university system functions are slated to be moved from their current location near the airport to downtown Bangor as part of a land swap deal with the city.

One of the reasons for the move to the former W.T. Grant building was to reaffirm the university system’s commitment to spurring economic development in Bangor, Chancellor Joseph Westphal said. For the city to now move a core function and 90 employees out of downtown to a more remote location would contradict this sentiment.

As a practical matter, city councilors should review all the potential locations for a new police station. Since they decided on the Main Street location, the university property has become available and a move there could save the city money. An analysis of the potential cost savings – now estimated to be $1 million – will be presented to a council committee on Thursday.

Sorting through the numbers won’t be easy. The expected $1 million savings could easily evaporate on more thorough analysis, or it could grow. Calculating the difference in cost between construction on Main Street and Maine Avenue will be fairly straightforward. Determining the development value of the two parcels will be speculative. The Main Street parcel is smaller, but close to downtown and a potentially redeveloped waterfront. The Maine Avenue parcel is much larger but part of the city’s business enterprise park, an area specifically set aside to attract new or expanding companies to town.

Councilors are wise to want to save the city money, but this decision is about more than money. A key tenet of community policing, which Bangor practices, is that police officers are a visible part of the community. Having a police station on Main Street fulfills this directive. Although a larger space farther from town has advantages, locating the police station out of the view of most of the public harms this objective.

Lastly, city officials should continue to work quickly to pick a final location. Much of the current police station is off-limits due to the building’s crumbling infrastructure. The building is also not insured.

Finding the right place for a new police station is important work. But it must be done quickly and with a regard for more than just dollars.