Weehawken has officially opened its new $700,000 police annex. Mayor Richard Turner, members of the Township Council, and other public officials cut the ribbon on Thursday, June 30.
“We are now dedicating our new police annex,” Turner said prior to cutting the ribbon on the facility. “We wish our police officers luck.”
The annex is located in the Tower Plaza Mall off of Park Avenue. It’s situated at the northern end of the indoor mall, next to the Lidl Supermarket.
The new annex aims to allow the approximately 57-member Police Department to function more efficiently. Things were getting cramped at the Police Headquarters at Town Hall, leading to the township expanding to a new location to increase functionality.
“We have obviously outgrown our police facilities in Town Hall,” Turner said.
While there are only two female officers on the force in Weehawken, the township sought to provide locker rooms for the women. The current headquarters at Town Hall did not have such accommodations.
“We wanted to have proper facilities for the female police officers,” Turner said.
Additionally, Turner touted the centralized location of the facility.
“This is in the center of town,” Turner said. “By being in the center of town, it covers more area around and makes it less back and forth for police officers. It’s a perfect location and a modern facility, that provides for the needs of the police department.”
Turner then took out a list of people he needed to thank for making the annex a reality, which included a slew of people who contributed to every aspect of the annex. He thanked Township Manager Gio Ahmed and Public Safety Director Jeff Welz among others.
“There’s a lot of people that worked hard on this,” Turner said.
Features of the new annex include several offices, a conference room, lockerrooms, an equipment room, and an IT room, as well as accompanying furniture and technology. The facility was financed through township bonds, capital improvement funds, and other monies.
“It’s a new day for the police department,” Turner said. “It’s a great facility, and we look forward to having a great presence here at the Tower Plaza Mall.”
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