LONGVIEW, Texas — The Longview Police Department has operated out of its current building on Cotton Street since it was built in 1977. However in the five years, Mike Bishop has been chief of the department, not everyone has been under the same roof.
"It was built for 80 employees," Bishop explained. "Today, we're authorized 237 employees, 175 sworn officers and then the rest is made up of civilian staff."
The department has had to rent out two other facilities to house different divisions. The Criminal Investigations Division is located in an adjacent building to the current station. Space has also been leased from Pine Tree ISD for the Special Investigations and Apprehension Unit.
In 2018, a $104 million bond was approved for the City of Longview with more than $52 million to go toward upgrades to public safety facilities. The police department was allocated $33.4 million for a new station.
"This bond package was approved by the citizens of Longview, and I'd like to thank them," Bishop said. "I think it's something that our community will cherish."
Over the past two years, the City purchased land along West South Street, which is about a block over from the current location. At the beginning of October, bids were opened for the project.
On Thursday, Oct. 22 the city council approved a $23.8 million bid from WRL General Contractors. The agreement is 14.6% below the construction budget, the remaining bond money will be used to equip the facility.
"It's going to be a state of the art facility," Bishop said. "It'll be good to have everybody under one roof."
The new station will be 68,412 square feet and will have three stories. The current building is 31,000 square feet, however, 4,100 square feet is utilized by the municipal court.
"In our property and evidence room right now, we have almost 77,000 pieces of property in evidence, and we add to that about 15,000 each year," he said. "So that's one of the benefits of the new facility is to be able to categorize storage."
The facility will also include more room for dispatch services, offices, an updated crime lab, and more. Bishop says the majority of his department has played a role in designing the new building's exterior and interior.
Construction on the new police station is anticipated to start at the beginning of 2021 and be completed by 2022.
