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State giving Mass. PD $49M for new police station

The current station no longer serves the needs of a modern community, city officials said

Mike LaBella
The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.

LAWRENCE, Mass. — From overcrowding to no proper prisoner intake areas or interview rooms to undersized dispatch facilities, the Lawrence Police Station no longer serves the needs of a modern community, city officials said.

That’s about to change with $49 million from the state to build a new police station the community can be proud of — and which will allow police to do their jobs properly, city and state officials said.

The new station will feature specialized spaces for police, while also adding space for meetings between police and residents, bridging the gap for positive community engagement.

The $49 million agreement will go toward the study, design and construction of a new station, officials said. They said the city is prepared to add up to $10 million if needed. The study is expected to be complete by spring 2021, followed by design and construction.

The announcement was recently made by Mayor Daniel Rivera; Gov. Charlie Baker; Mike Heffernan, state secretary of administration and finance; state Sen. Barry Finegold; state Reps. Frank Moran, Christina Minicucci and Marcos Devers; and police Chief Roy Vasque.

The effort for a new station has a long history, officials said. Its chances got better when Finegold and Northern Essex Community College President Lane Glenn pushed the idea of a regional public safety center to teach urban policing and make the project a police station and college campus.

The discussion of that proposal got the project onto Baker’s radar, officials said.

After the Columbia Gas crisis, where Baker saw firsthand Lawrence’s police force at work and visited the current station, he directed Heffernan, the state delegation and Rivera to figure out how to build a police station that the city and the community can be proud of.

“Our administration is pleased to support public safety operations in the city of Lawrence by working with our legislative colleagues to help fund this important project,” Baker said. “We look forward to these significant upgrades supporting the important work that the Lawrence Police Department does to serve their community every day.”

Vasque said he is extremely grateful for the leadership of Baker and Rivera and for the Lawrence state delegation’s tenacious support for a new station.

“This project is long overdue,’' Vasque said, “and I am absolutely thrilled that the hardworking men and women of the department and the residents of Lawrence will be getting the police station they deserve.”

©2020 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.)

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