Naperville extending police station lobby hours to Saturdays

The Naperville police station lobby is about to be open on Saturdays.

Saturday hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be available beginning June 11 to help residents file police reports without having to call an officer in from patrol or wait until Monday.

"We've seen a need" for Saturday hours, police Chief Robert Marshall said. "Residents come to the police department, they find our lobby closed, they have to make a phone call and our officer has to come in from the street to take the station report."

Marshall said police get as many station visitors on Saturdays as they do during the week, so extended hours are necessary.

To open on Saturdays, the department will make one of the three police service officers who staff the front desk a full-time employee working a 40-hour week instead of a part-timer working 30 hours. Police service officers are not sworn personnel, but civilians who primarily complete police reports and handle concerns from citizen callers and walk-in visitors.

The city council OK'd the change in hours - and the additional annual spending of $14,150 that is needed to support it - during a meeting on Tuesday.

When extended hours begin, the lobby of the police station at 1350 Aurora Ave. will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.