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Estevan police have plans for building expansion

The Estevan Police Service expects to have a busy year in 2019, with plans to install on-board computers and move forward with an expansion of the current police station.
Estevan police

The Estevan Police Service expects to have a busy year in 2019, with plans to install on-board computers and move forward with an expansion of the current police station.

Speaking with the Mercury, police Chief Paul Ladouceur said the expansion of the current police building is their big project for this year. The 2019 City of Estevan budget, approved at the Feb. 11 meeting, includes $500,000 for phase 1 of the expansion.

He expects the shell for the expansion could be constructed this year, with the four walls and the slab foundation. Phase 2 would include building offices within the expanded structure and Phase 3 would probably be touching up the existing facility to bring some of the areas up to standard.

Ladouceur said it will require quite a bit of legwork from the EPS. Some meetings are set with the police board to discuss the expansion. The work needs to be done as fiscally responsible as possible.

“We also have a service that’s required to be provided to this community,” said Ladouceur. “This building was built in the ’50s, and we’ve simply outgrown it. Often people talk about how maybe we can reduce the number of officers, and that would solve the problem.”

The expansion will provide the necessary office space, the area for records keeping and meet other needs that the EPS requires.

“Policing is unique. A police building is not like a normal building. We have forensic labs in here. We have file retention areas that we’re required to keep with paper documentation for, in some cases, up to 25 years or longer.”

Most people who have toured the police building have noticed the tight confines, he said, and he hopes people can see the need for the expansion.

Ladouceur reiterated that the EPS provides around-the-clock service to the people of Estevan, and they receive funding from the provincial government for four positions.

As for the on-board computers, all EPS front-line patrol vehicles are expected to be equipped in March. The EPS has been looking to have the vehicles equipped with computers for two years. Once they’re installed, they are expected to improve officers’ efficiency. 

The computers are in-stock, and are being configured with the required updated programming.

On-board computers will have a number of benefits, such as electronic collision reporting, which will mean quicker and more accurate reports, and much less paper.

The EPS will also have a more efficient system for issuing traffic tickets.

“Right now everything is hand-written,” said Ladouceur. “This will be a matter of swiping a person’s driver’s licence, punching in the violation and the ticket will be printed in the car automatically.”

The on-board computers will increase officers’ ability to deal with infractions in a much quicker fashion, and get back to patrols or respond for calls for service.

The on-board computers will allow officers to check for wanted individuals and licence plates, run occurrence reports and check people’s names to see if they have had a history with the police, right from the police car.

They will also be able to complete reports right from the vehicle, instead of having to return to the police station.

“Right now what happens is when an officer attends to an incident, they then have to return to the station to complete the required paperwork and the report,” said Ladouceur. “They won’t have to do that anymore. So it will create, essentially, a stronger presence in our community, because those patrol vehicles will be out on the street where they should be.”

It’s not new to policing, but it’s new to the EPS.

“Most services have gone that route,” said Ladouceur. “We’re lagging behind in that area.”

The computers were purchased in last year’s budget, and everything is already paid for.

The EPS has discussed computer-automated dispatch in conjunction with the on-board computers. While the EPS would retain its current dispatchers, and the dispatchers would still answer the phones, this would mark the end of a pen-and-paper dispatching system.

Under the CAD system, when someone makes a call, the dispatcher will enter the data into a computer system. The CAD will be connected to the laptops in the patrol vehicles, and will provide information to the officers.

Ladouceur believes Estevan’s crime rate has dropped in the past few years because the EPS has the necessary number of officers in place.

“When the economy goes down, the important thing to realize is we see different crime trends start to increase, and we’ve seen that with some of these break-ins and thefts and things like that.”

The EPS is paying close attention to the number of thefts and break and enters in the city, and is looking to increase property checks and patrols to prevent those crimes.

Also, a community satisfaction survey will be sent out later this year. It’s in the works with professional academics at the University of Regina who have done numerous community surveys in the past.

“We want see what the satisfaction level of the community is, how we can improve our service to the community, and our strengths and our weaknesses moving forward,” said Ladouceur.