NCJ Number
210848
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 72 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2005 Pages: 34-39
Date Published
July 2005
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article describes in detail how the Holland Police Department (Michigan) used the 2002 IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) Police Facility Planning Guidelines to design and build a new police facility.
Abstract
While attending an IACP conference workshop that addressed police facility planning, the Holland police leadership became acquainted with the IACP guidelines and discussed them with knowledgeable experts. Over the next few years the department's planning activities were structured to follow the facility planning model presented in the guidelines publication. The 18-step facility planning model presented in the guidelines is divided into four project phases, each having various steps. The four phases are project initiation, project planning and pre-design, budgeting and funding, and design and delivery. Developed under an advisory board of experienced police professionals, the guidelines offer a logical sequence of project phases and steps that encompass issues and activities for consideration. The planning model does not require that each of its 18 steps be followed in precisely the same order or with the same emphasis in every jurisdiction. This was the case with the Holland Police Department. This article describes the emphasis, sequence, and activities of the department in implementing the steps of each phase of the guidelines. In addition to focusing on the application of the guidelines, this article addresses steps in determining space needs, facility options, costs and funding, designing the facility, construction, and transition to occupancy. Using the guidelines resulted in the successful completion of the needed police facility, which was dedicated in September 2004.