Post Falls police chief seeks to add substation
POST FALLS — The Post Falls Police Department may get a substation on the west side of town if the city council approves the proposal when it meets Tuesday.
Police Chief Scot Haug said he will suggest the development of a new substation inside Kootenai County Fire and Rescue’s Station No. 2 Building just west of Pleasantview Avenue on Seltice Way.
Haug said KCFR is not staffing the facility 24 hours a day, so it is available for use and Chief Warren Merritt supports the concept.
“We have been working for a number of years to find a location on the west side of the city to improve response times,” Haug said, explaining that response times for a call should be within three to five minutes. “But as the city is spreading out, that is getting harder to maintain.”
He said the way things work now, an officer who responds to a call on the west side of the city has to return to the police station on Polston Avenue to process the call. If another call comes in from the west side, the officer must then drive back across town.
Being located near the intersection of Seltice and Pleasantview will allow officers to return to the substation to process their calls and take breaks when necessary.
“They will be able to do everything they can do here at the station,” Haug said. “Keeping them there just makes sense.”
Haug said it makes sense from a financial standpoint because the brick and mortar is already in place. He is working with a local nonprofit to fund the $11,000 startup cost to get the substation up and running.
“I don’t want to name the nonprofit yet. We have a commitment, but it’s not official yet,” he said. If it all comes together, he hopes to get it up and running by January.
The best part, Haug said, is he thinks he can make it happen at no cost to taxpayers.
Haug said the plan is to make the substation available to officers 24 hours a day and he wants to try to staff the facility during normal business hours.
“This can provide a safe environment for the officers and citizens could stop out there to file a report,” he said.
Haug will take the proposal to the city council on Tuesday at 6 p.m.