Raleigh to move police HQ

Raleigh, N.C. — To accommodate construction of a new police headquarters downtown, the Raleigh Police Department will move several divisions to a north Raleigh office building next fall.

The city bought the former Builders Mutual Insurance building, at 6717 Six Forks Road, to serve as a temporary headquarters while the Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center is built on the corner of Hargett and McDowell streets downtown, where the police department's offices now sit.

Chief Harry Dolan's office, administrative services, the detective division, field operations, police records and an information desk will move to the 46,000-square-foot building. Dolan said five of the department's six substations will remain in their current locations across Raleigh, and the downtown substation will move from police headquarters to 218 W. Cabarrus St. next fall.

"The move of police headquarters to this (Builders Mutual) building is necessary to accommodate this major initiative to advance Raleigh's public safety capabilities to the highest level," Mayor Charles Meeker said in a statement. "The public safety center will enhance the city's ability to consolidate public safety operations and other local government offices and functions in one location."

The 17-story, 305,000-square-foot public safety center also will house the headquarters of the Raleigh Fire Department, the Raleigh-Wake Emergency Communications Center, a traffic control center and a data center. The project is expected to cost $226 million.

The city paid Builders Mutual Insurance and the North Carolina Home Builders Association more than $6.2 million for the Six Forks Road office building.

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Latest Comments

shellygirl, are u totally in the dark? Do u actually think that the police officers want or even care about a new building? They are short staffed, overworked, and underpaid. This is the city council's doing. Ask a cop if they want a new building or a raise. And the building they are in is old and to small, haven't u looked around, the city has grown and continues to grow. And we all know how Meeker likes a new building.

Duke _Nukem
November 13, 2008 9:01 p.m.

jbigbird3- you're the first person I know of (other than me) that has raised this concern. Apparently, the forces and powers that be are completely unphased by local history and the known reputation of who they have chosen to name the new facility after.. Political Correctness is the order of the day.

oldcorp
November 13, 2008 8:14 p.m.

The new building is needed but the name that the city council has picked is a slap in the face of public safety. Anyone that knows the history of the person should realize that they do not deserve this honor. The city has wasted money on other projects but this one is needed.

jbigbird3
November 13, 2008 7:37 p.m.

Didn't they say yesterday this project had been put on hold because of the economy???

Getting lost in the details here...

But seriously, they DO need new facilities down there.

God bless.

Rev. RB

Spirit Warrior Woman - Rev. RB
November 13, 2008 5:14 p.m.

smcallah:

"Yep, because that happens SO often in cities all across the U.S. that they need to worry about it so much. "

You really have no idea of how Islamic terrorists think or operate, do you?

It is nothing for them to make plans, then sit on them for multiple generations. Their sense of time regarding jihad spans centuries, not months as we think of things here. Just because you have not seen a massive terrorist attack against America since 9/11 means nothing.