There is a brand new police station in one Luzerne County Township and it came at no cost to taxpayers.
Wilkes-Barre Township now has 8,000 square feet of new space built on the back of the existing township building.
"If you ever had a chance to see the old building, and see what the police had to deal with, they had to really shackle the guys on a wall. They didn't even have holding cells," said State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski.
Before the new place, dozens of officers crammed into about 900 square feet of space.
"We moved into the building in 1979 and about a year later, it was undersized because our police department has been growing as a our town has been growing. Back then we had 16 officers, now we have 45," said Wilkes-Barre Township Police Captain Ron Smith.
The new station is state-of-the-art, designed by fellow police officers, with more offices, an interview room with two-way glass and even two large holding cells.
The new place was built in about six months. It cost $750,000 but not a penny is being paid by taxpayers. The money came from gambling proceeds collected by the state.
"This is a lot of expense for a small community. If we had to do this ourselves, we'd have had to take loans or take a bond issue or take a different avenue then what we did," said Township Mayor Carl Kuren.
Officers plan to move into the new station in the next few weeks.
"We've always worked in little offices and cubicles, the new place, it's going to be great, it's going to be so much more professional for us," said Captain Smith.
Wilkes-Barre Township now has 8,000 square feet of new space built on the back of the existing township building.
"If you ever had a chance to see the old building, and see what the police had to deal with, they had to really shackle the guys on a wall. They didn't even have holding cells," said State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski.
Before the new place, dozens of officers crammed into about 900 square feet of space.
"We moved into the building in 1979 and about a year later, it was undersized because our police department has been growing as a our town has been growing. Back then we had 16 officers, now we have 45," said Wilkes-Barre Township Police Captain Ron Smith.
The new station is state-of-the-art, designed by fellow police officers, with more offices, an interview room with two-way glass and even two large holding cells.
The new place was built in about six months. It cost $750,000 but not a penny is being paid by taxpayers. The money came from gambling proceeds collected by the state.
"This is a lot of expense for a small community. If we had to do this ourselves, we'd have had to take loans or take a bond issue or take a different avenue then what we did," said Township Mayor Carl Kuren.
Officers plan to move into the new station in the next few weeks.
"We've always worked in little offices and cubicles, the new place, it's going to be great, it's going to be so much more professional for us," said Captain Smith.
