New station provides Sandwich police with updated technology, security enhancements and room to grow

By DAVID PETESCH dpetesch@shawmedia.com

The Sandwich Police Department staff finished moving into their new station last month and the department now is running almost all operations out of the facility.

Police Chief James Bianchi said the station has been one of his top priorities since coming to the city in 2013 and he is very happy with the way it has turned out.

The station, at 1251 E. Sixth St., once housed a custom stair manufacturer and was purchased by the city in 2016 for about $500,000. To finance the necessary renovations, the city sold $3.2 million in bonds, which will be repaid over a 20-year period.

The station has between 12,000 and 14,000 square feet of floor space and sits on a 2-acre site. The station boasts more than twice the floor space of the former station at 308 East College St., which had served as the department’s headquarters since the early 1970s.

Besides all the extra space, the former station had problems with heating and air conditioning, plumbing and mold. The new station provides the police department with far better technology and updated utilities, according to the department.

The new Sandwich police station is seen Monday, Jan. 9. Sandwich Police Department staff finished moving into their new station in December and the department now is running almost all operations out of the facility.

The front door of the building enters into the lobby, which is outfitted with a waiting room, restrooms and ballistic proof reinforcements.

On the building’s east side, a “bull- pen” area for the patrol officers is set up with cubicles and a large, round table for daily briefings. Detectives have their own bullpen-style room near the center of the building.

The station will offer major enhancements to the department’s security capabilities, both in the station and around the city.

Bianchi said there are three new security systems: video surveillance and security, evidence and detention, and interviewing. Each of these functions is controlled by a separate computer system inside the station.

The entire station is monitored by