Police officers, by the nature of the work they do, are part of a community. They, and the station they work out of, belong in an easily accessible, visible location, not hidden away in the leafy outskirts of town. Bangor’s police station should remain downtown.

Yet city councilors recently voted 8-1 to reverse an earlier decision to locate a new police station on Main Street. Instead, they have chosen to build a new station on Maine Avenue near the airport. They should reconsider that decision.

One reason cited by councilors in reversing their November directive to build the new station downtown is that the parcel the city purchased at the corner of Cedar and Main streets has development potential. So does the land under City Hall and the Bangor Public Library. These buildings belong downtown and no one would suggest that they be razed to make way for a shopping outlet or a condo project.

Another concern is the theoretical need for more parking spaces. City officials say the space for parking at the Main Street location is adequate for now, but that the 1.4-acre parcel doesn’t allow enough room to build more if needed. There are several possible solutions to this problem. One would be to encourage police department employees to park in the nearby public parking garage. Another would be to lease parking spaces from nearby businesses that do not fill their own lots. The city’s main fire station, across Main Street, has a fairly large lot as well.

Finally, the police station could have a smaller footprint by building up rather than out, thereby making more room for parking. At the same time, however, budget constraints should not lead to poor choices, such as less working space, a flat roof or cheap materials.

If none of these solutions works, more effort should be made to find a suitable location elsewhere downtown. Perhaps land has become available since the city looked last year. Perhaps a differently designed building could be fit on parcels that were previously rejected.

Those who are promoting development on the city’s waterfront should see a police station located nearby as a plus. Retirees, for example, value safety, and a police presence near the condominiums where they may live could be a selling point.

Was it just a coincidence that on the same night they decided to move the police station, the councilors signed an agreement with the University of Maine System to move their offices downtown? The space the system is leaving is what is now to become home to the police station. Both sides hailed the agreement as a way to stimulate the local economy by having more people downtown. Yet, at the same time they are willing to move a critical city service farther from the city center.

The Maine Avenue parcel is bigger and it may cost less to build there. But it is in the wrong place.

Bangor’s police station, like those in other cities, should be a visible, accessible part of the community. Rather than assuming that its options are limited, city officials and city councilors should be more creative in looking for ways to keep this important fixture downtown.