WASHINGTON, Ill. – A new evidence building for the Washington Police Department took another step forward this week.
The city council this week awarded a bid to P.J. Hoerr for around $2.3 million, after voting against an amendment in June to cover cost increases. The location would be next to the fire station near Five Points.
The bid process required alternate bids, with council not preferring to not have epoxy floors in the new building.
Police Chief Mike McCoy says he was “disappointed” by the decision to not include epoxy floors, saying they would be easier to clean up. But he says it’s more important overall to get a new building.
“Right now we’re storing our evidence off-site in another location, and we need to have the evidence building built where we can do things efficiently, effectively, and legally with barcoding and transportation of evidence and everything else,” McCoy said.
The police department is currently having to store evidence in a building outside of the city limits, after a fire occurred in February to the building it was using.
McCoy says discussions have been going on for five years of building a new evidence building, after its old location had no heat, air conditioning, or running water, and some areas of the building were compromised.
McCoy says features of the new building include improved security, bar codes, separate rooms for narcotics. He says groundbreaking could take place next month.
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