Rock island police officers say their new station makes their jobs easier.
Officers say they continue to get new equipment since it opened a few months ago.
Officers says the building gives them much more space to do their everyday duties.
There’s also more technology to help them communicate with dispatchers in the field.
They say it’s great help with keeping the people of rock island safe.
“It’s definitely paid off. I think the difference between the old police department and now is night and day,” said Lt. Tim McCloud.
Rock island Leiutenant Tim McCloud says this building was five years in the making.
He says the old station is half the size and 75 years old.
One big improvement he pointed out was the new communications center…
Dispatcher Beth Hoffeditz says it makes her hectic job more manageable.
She has twice the space to work and more technology…
“We actually have wireless headsets now that allow us to multi-task a little bit easier. We can access things a little bit better, rather than getting tangled up with the cord,” said Hoffeditz.
She says they can see where all the on-duty officers are located.
Hoffeditz can also access about 15 cameras to help them out.
“We can see what’s going on for our officers and kind of keep a little birds eye view on what’s going on for them as they’re actually doing their work.”
McCloud says the officers now have more space to do daily duties.
Instead of one room for meetings, roll call and breaks, they’re each separate.
The fitness and locker rooms are also broken up, so male and female officers can use them.
“Just to be able to do our jobs better without tripping over each other at the old police department,” said McCloud.
“I think that the Rock Island citizens should take a lot of pride in the fact that we have this department. Rock Island has typically throughout the Quad Cities been somewhat of an underdog, and I think it should be a jewel and a gem to know that their police department has this facility,” said Hoffeditz.
