Police station location

Regarding Tom Weber’s column, “Chief makes case for [police] station site” (BDN, Oct. 2-3), I have some concerns with the column and there were some facts left out. There is no hard and fast dollar amount for savings in comparing the two sites. There are hidden and potential costs associated with the airport location:

. possible asbestos removal;

. a downtown substation for foot patrol and bicycles in the parking garage ($125,000);

. a new architectural design (the downtown site plan costs $400,000 and had been paid for and won’t work for the airport site);

. the added cost of gas and vehicle maintenance for the two-mile drive into the downtown.

The airport site has more land, so expansion is possible, but how much space do we really need? If Bangor grows so much as to warrant expansions, maybe it could consider having a satellite station(s) outside of downtown.

Police Chief Don Winslow agrees that: “There is a tangible benefit to having the police station downtown, a visible structure from which the regular movements of patrol cars can serve as a deterrent to crime.”

What is the dollar cost of a life, of a personal injury, of a traffic accident? In the last two years, in the vicinity of Cedar Street – from Main Street to Second Street – there have been several stabbings, a murder and severalpersonal assaults.

Steve Wong

Bangor