After waiting years, Granbury Police Department to move into new $13M facility

It was 15-17 years late, but the long-promised Granbury police station is now a reality.

A well-attended grand opening was held on Wednesday, May 18, for the new facility located on 40 acres at 2050 NE Loop 567, even though an IT glitch has prevented the Granbury Police Department from officially moving in. Police Chief Mitch Galvan said that the move should take place within days or a few weeks.

Since 2002, when the newly constructed Granbury City Hall opened on West Bridge Street, the police department has been housed within a 6,800 square foot area on the ground floor. From Day One, the police department was at capacity, Galvan said, but city leaders at that time hoped to construct a freestanding police station within three to five years.

That didn’t happen.

“Our department has more than doubled since 2002, so you can imagine the changes that we’ve had to make inside of our current space to accommodate that growth,” said Galvan, who has been with the Granbury PD for 32 years and became chief 16 years ago.

Even a closet became an office, he said, and “kindergarten”-sized lockers for the department’s patrol officers lined a hallway because there was nowhere else to put them.

Changes that were made to stretch the limited space for a growing number of staff included eliminating a conference room, a training room and a report-writing room.

As the years passed and the police department became more and more cramped, mayors, city managers and council members came and went. Budget cycle after budget cycle, the need for a police station was discussed but other needs took priority.

But in recent years, City Manager Chris Coffman, who joined the city in spring 2015, gave precedence to the new police station and a supportive City Council approved the plans.

The Granbury Police Department, accustomed to making do in a cramped corner at City Hall, is now moving to a 30,000-square-feet state of the art building.

BUILT FOR THE FUTURE

The new Granbury police station is expected to meet the city’s needs for many years to come but was designed for easy expansion once that need arises.

For now, it has plenty of room for Galvan and his 54 employees, 32 of whom are patrol officers. The number of staff will soon total 56. The chief stated that two new hires were budgeted for this year, but the positions have not yet been filled because there simply is no room for them at City Hall.

At the new police station, the public will walk into a foyer that offers seating. To the left are windows where clerks will assist with open records requests and other inquiries. Behind those clerks is an area for records. There is a restroom, a copy room, and an office for a future records supervisor.

Straight ahead is a window behind which is a dispatch room for future use. Currently, the city relies on county 911 dispatchers who work from the Hood County Law Enforcement Center.

The dispatch room has a slightly raised steel floor beneath which cables will be run, according to Lt. Garrett Wiginton. There is also an office for a dispatch supervisor, a restroom and lockers.

A short hallway to the right of the building’s entrance has two “soft interview” rooms that can be used for initial report taking. At the end of the hallway is a large meeting room with tables, chairs and a large screen. The room can be used for a variety of purposes, including public meetings and hosting law enforcement trainings, Galvan said.

Wiginton said that by hosting trainings, Granbury police officers will be able to participate in the training free of charge.

The rest of the building is secured and not accessible to the public. According to Wiginton, some windows are either bulletproof or “impact resistant.” Some walls, such as those that separate the public meeting room from the entrance to the secured area, have Kevlar protection inside them to make them impact resistant as well, he stated.

Here are details about the secured area of the building:

Offices: There are several individual offices and larger office areas with cubicles. Those include the Patrol Division and the Criminal Investigation Division.

The administration suite includes an office for Galvan and Deputy Chief Cliff Andrews, as well as a restroom, a conference room and an area for an administrative assistant

Just outside the suite, which Wiginton said has key card access, is a small waiting area that can be monitored by the chief’s assistant through a glass window.

Interview rooms: In addition to the “soft interview” rooms in the public portion of the building, there are three interview rooms in the secured area as well as a room where the interviews can be monitored. Interviews conducted in those rooms will be recorded, Wiginton said. There is also a nearby restroom for use by interviewees.

Storage: The new building has plenty of storage, Galvan said, including a quartermaster room for all supplies for officers. One of those rooms is for storing the four mountain bikes that are used for bicycle patrol as well as the four new electronic bicycles given to the department by a donor.

Canine kennels: Two indoor canine kennels have access to a fenced outdoor area. Wiginton said that the department’s narcotics canine, Paul, will continue to go home with his handler, Richard Branum, but will be placed in the kennel temporarily whenever Branum needs to do paperwork.

Evidence: There is more than one area for handling and storing evidence. According to Wiginton, evidence related to firearms and narcotics must be stored separately, so there is a special room for that. At the back of the building is larger, multi-room area for evidence and includes a refrigerator for storing any evidence related to DNA, such as blood samples taken in DWI cases, and a large drying unit that dries blood-soaked or otherwise wet evidence while still preserving that evidence.

Briefing room: A room designated as a briefing room will be used for in-house trainings and shift-change rundowns.

Fitness Facility: Wiginton is particularly excited about the large room labeled Fitness Facility. It is a gym for on-site workouts that will keep officers in good physical shape. Currently, the department is using a city-owned building near the Jim Burks Memorial Firefighters Park for that purpose. Equipment will be moved from there to the new building, and a few pieces of new equipment will be purchased, Wiginton said.

Defensive Tactics: This is a smaller, padded room that will be equipped with a wrestling mat and punching bags for defensive training.

Vehicle evidence: This enclosed garage will be used for processing evidence from vehicles. Double doors leading into the building will be able to accommodate large pieces of evidence that need to be brought inside.

Sallyport: Wiginton stated the sallyport can be used to “bring people in for secured interviews.”

Locker rooms: The facility has male and female locker rooms with restroom and shower facilities.

Report-writing room: This room has eight workstations where officers can retreat to write reports.

Kitchen: There is a full kitchen, with two refrigerators, a stove, and three round tables with four chairs each. Wiginton stated that the stove will allow officers who work graveyard shifts to prepare healthy meals.

Other rooms: There is an area with small, separate rooms for weapons cleaning, secured armory storage and ammo storage, all of which are protected with cinderblock walls. The building also has a juvenile room for interviews with juveniles or where they can remain until their parents come for them.

Secured parking: In addition to ample parking for the public in front of the building, there is secured parking for department staff and patrol vehicles in the rear. There are two entrances, both of which have keypad access.

Galvan said he is “thrilled to death” that some of the parking spaces are covered, which will help protect expensive equipment in scorching summer temperatures.

“In the past, we had incidents where video cameras melted in the cars in the summertime,” he said.

At the back of that parking lot is a generator that will run everything inside the police station in the event of a power failure.

Just past the secured parking area is a paved vehicle impound lot that will be video monitored.

MOVING DAY

Wiginton said that department staffers will do the moving themselves with U-Haul trucks. Half the department will be moved at a time, he said, and the other portion will not be moved until everything is operating smoothly with the first half.

“We are beyond excited,” he said of the new police headquarters.

Despite years of delays, Galvan is not letting the postponement caused by IT issues cast a cloud over the happy occasion that his department has waited so long for.

“I’m excited,” he said. “We are seeing the finish line and just can’t really wait to get in it. The excitement just grows every day knowing that it’s not going to be long.”