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Current Police Station
Police Station
The current St. Helens Police Station was built in 1971 (now 50 years old) to serve 6,200 residents, less than half today's current population. The station has seen almost no change to the original 2,200 square feet of office space and garage that was built to serve the St. Helens population at that time.
Today, the station does not meet operational standards for policing best practices. Our agency cannot be accredited due to the severe deficiencies of the building that our police work out of to serve and protect the community.
The station is not ADA accessible, which means that everyone in our community does not have equal access to all police services. The building does not meet basic energy efficiency or seismic standards. It was not built to accommodate the large amount of digital data that our officers now work with. There is not enough space to secure all the Department's police vehicles indoors, and there is concern of asbestos inside the building.
Of particular concern is the fact that there are no private interview spaces for those in crisis or secure briefing spaces for officers and partners to coordinate. If you are the victim of a violent crime such as abuse or assault, you may have to sit in an area where other staff can overhear you sharing the details of what happened to you. You may even have to see or pass by the suspect of the incident.
Most of the senior administrative staff work out of a temporary trailer with no restrooms or running water. This is also where multi-day major crime investigations are coordinated when we need the assistance of other agencies such as the FBI, Oregon State Police, and other regional law enforcement partners. These complex cases can sometimes take over a week of around-the-clock coordination and investigation follow up and investigators must repeatedly leave the building for access to water or a restroom.
There is not enough space in the building for dedicated officer training areas. This means that our agency must find space somewhere else for classroom and hands-on training. Our current station also has insufficient lockers for all of our patrol officers and a unisex changing room. With an increasingly diverse police force of multiple genders, this is an issue during shift changes or decontamination situations. It is difficult to attract, hire, and retain outstanding officers to serve our community with these types of facilities.
