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Mount Prospect searching for land for new police station

Mount Prospect leaders will begin talks next month about buying land for a new police station, Village Manager Michael Cassady said Tuesday.

Where that property is, however, Cassaday isn't saying.

"We want to control the property before we announce the location," he said.

The target location currently is occupied by another tenant. If purchased by the village, work to renovate it to meet the police department's needs would take 18 months to two years, officials say.

As for the fate of the current station downtown, which police share with the fire department, Cassaday said that has yet to be determined.

The village has been working with a real estate broker to find a site for a new police headquarters. The search began in December after the release of a space-needs study that determined the current station is inadequate for the needs of modern police work.

"The police are in dire need of a new facility," Chief John Koziol said. "I think that was spelled out real clearly in the space-needs study done by the independent architect. We need 85,000 square feet and we're using (30,000) now. We can't make more space where we're at, either."

Among the problems at the downtown station is a deteriorating parking deck.

"It's a fact that you can't drive an ambulance or a garbage truck on it right now," Koziol said.

He also alluded to the facility's shortcomings in dealing with the demands of state-of-the-art law enforcement.

"Forensics has come a long way. (But) we have no room for forensics," Koziol said.

Consultant calls for new police HQ

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