BOURNE – It was almost four years ago that Bourne residents voted to approve the new Bourne Police Station.
In a vote 617 to 4, that show of support is still felt today, rippling through to 2020 where law enforcement has been put into a polarizing position nationwide.
“The support has been phenomenal” Lt. Brandon Esip said in a phone interview. “We feel the support, we know the support is out there and it was proven with this building.”
For Town of Bourne residents, a police station riddled with asbestos, flooding concerns and lack of training space was simply unacceptable. To the Bourne Police Officers, however, it was just another place to display their exemplary professionalism, day in and day out.
“You know you were working in a rundown building, but we never saw it affecting the officers. They’ve always done a phenomenal job with being able to overcome and deal with those things. It became a ‘oh that’s broken again,” said Esip.
Now, their new $17.6 million station comes fully equipped with a climate-controlled evidence room, upgraded holding cells and expanded training facilities that are thankfully floodwater and asbestos free.
Such upgrades, Esip said, will protect chain of custody loopholes from Defense Attorneys when a case goes to trial and secure detainees properly that they haven’t been able to in the past.
Lt. Esip says they had a couple detainees escape due to door malfunctions on the old property but will be a non-factor at the new location.
Esip, also known as the hilarious mastermind behind some of the witty Bourne Police Facebook updates, credits the Department’s efficiency behind the smooth three-day transition from the old building to the new.
“We started with furniture on the 13th and on the 14th all the systems with phone lines were moved over and by the 15th at noon we were fully operational at the new building.”
Among these upgrades, a new training facility will help the department expand their departmental training programs and efficiently respond to severe weather systems. Their new training area is quite the upgrade from the previous facility which was just a “back room with chairs that held 5-10 people at a time”.
The new room holds up to 50 people, houses a state-of-the-art projector system and will help cut costs the department once used to spend on external venues to train law enforcement staff.
When asked about plans for the new building, Esip claims it’s out of their hands what the town plans to use it for now. He laughs when I imply “it’s not your problem anymore!”. Whatever the town decides, regardless of what the media tries to portray, Esip is sure of one thing “it’s a special place to be a member of law enforcement here”.
By Krysta Lubold, Cape Wide News
