Emergency personnel to move into new home
Close to 500 city employees will move their offices next month now that the $66 million Public Safety Building is officially open.
Hundreds of people showed up on Wednesday for a community celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony, which marked the official opening of a facility that has been at least five years in the making.
Police and fire personnel have been waiting patiently to move into their new home after unforeseen circumstances caused the project to be delayed, which increased the facility’s cost by millions.
Officials estimate that the move will take three days and will be done over a weekend in September. Paid movers, who all went through background checks and fingerprinting by the Santa Monica Police Department, will move the SMPD’s five offices individually. SMPD supervisors will oversee the transfer of the department’s files and records to maintain the integrity of the move.
The SMPD’s communication center, which includes the 911 dispatch center, will be up and running before the move. The police department’s front desk officer, watch commander and records section will be relocated to City Hall over the weekend of the move.
“Our services will not be impacted or interrupted because of this move,” said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega. “All of the critical 24-hour staff will be working.”
The impetus behind the new facility was the deterioration of the current police building, which is attached to City Hall. Built to accommodate just over 100 employees in the 1950s, more than 400 now work in the police building that also houses the city jail.
When prisoners are booked into the current jail, they are all held in one temporary holding cell. But the new jail has five temporary holding cells. There also are two detox cells and two padded cells. All of the jail cells are sight and sound isolated, meaning prisoners can’t see or hear each other. Unlike the current jail, which has bars on the cells allowing prisoners to talk to one another, the new cells are surrounded by walls and a solid door with a small slat where food is slid in.
The new jail also has three interview rooms, which the current jail does not have. The kitchen area is now located next to the jail, making it more convenient for jailers to serve TV dinners to the prisoners.
The Santa Monica Jail serves as a temporary holding facility where prisoners stay between 24 and 72 hours, depending on when their initial court appearance is. They are then either released or sent to a county jail facility.
And while the prisoners probably won’t be any more comfortable in the new facility, police and fire personnel will be. For years, police personnel have worked in overcrowded offices with less than adequate facilities in some areas, officials say.
The SMPD’s squad room in the basement of the police building has served as the emergency operations center for years. Now, the dedicated EOC in the Public Safety Building is equipped with several televisions mounted on the walls, computers, an audio visual room and a host of other amenities for emergency responders.
792,“During an emergency, you may have employees spend the night here or 10, 12, 24 or 48 hours in the same room,” Lt. Fabrega said. “It’s important to give them an area of relaxation.”
“During an emergency, you may have employees spend the night here or 10, 12, 24 or 48 hours in the same room.” — — LT. FRANK FABREGA
The new communications center is several notches above the working conditions in the current center, which is located in the basement of the police building near the squad room.
The new center is at least twice the size, has large windows facing Olympic Boulevard, is equipped with flat screen computer monitors and all work stations have retractable desks that can be lowered and raised so emergency dispatchers can either sit or stand. Each work station also has individual vents to control the air temperature, which will conserve energy, officials say.
Across from the EOC and communications center on the second floor is the administrative offices for the Santa Monica Fire Department. The third floor is dedicated to police personnel, including internal affairs and the detective division. Two-thirds of the top floor are the offices of SMPD Chief James T. Butts Jr. and his command staff which includes the police department’s deputy chief, three captains, among other high ranking officers.
Also in the building’s basement is the SMPD’s shooting range and a large parking lot where police vehicles will be parked.
When the public enters the facility’s two-story main lobby, they will be able to go directly to the SMPD’s front desk, the parking office where tickets can be paid and the community relations department.
The SMPD’s front desk window is bullet-proof and an elaborate alarm system with video surveillance and cameras throughout the building ensures high security.
City architect Lauren Friedman, who helped oversee the project, said the facility now puts Santa Monica’s emergency personnel departments and the general public into the 21st Century.
“Everyone has nice digs,” she said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 28, 2003. Read the original PDF.