The newly completed university police office on Westwood Boulevard opened its doors on Monday after the old building was demolished and rebuilt in the same location, said UCPD spokesperson Nancy Greenstein.
The $20 million project was necessary because of problems with the old UCPD office. These included asbestos, a low earthquake safety rating and lack of compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, Greenstein said.
“We couldn’t fix the building,” Greenstein said. “It was more fiscally responsible to break it down and start again.”
The new facility was created with safety and police objectives in mind, Greenstein said, while the old building, constructed in the 1950s, was not meant to be a police station at all.
New features like fingerprint-operated doors, modernized holding cells and interview rooms ensure greater security than there was in the old building, said Jeff Young, assistant chief of police.
“We were always worried before. There was not much separating a person in custody from the outside,” Young said.
The new building is also more spacious in contrast to the old cramped building, so everyone is able to have their own workspace yet remain under the same roof, Young said.
During the 26-month interim period, UCPD moved to a temporary location on Kinross Avenue, and some departments were in separate locations.
“It’s like having a part of your family live somewhere else. It’s easy to lose touch and not work with each other as much,” Young said.
Now officers and employees say they are happy with the space and sense of community regained in the new building.
“It’s definitely very up-to-date, and very much an appropriate space,” said Drew Cox, who works in the communications room. “The old (communications area) was a total darkroom.”
Records officer Sonja McClain, who has worked for UCPD for eight years, said she was pleased to return to a completely new facility.
“It’s more spacious, more modern, it’s coming into the 21st century,” McClain said. “(The building) looks like the rest of campus now.”