Portsmouth getting new multimillion-dollar police station

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (WJAR) — A new multimillion-dollar police station is set to open its doors in Portsmouth to help better serve the community.

NBC 10’s Tony Gugliotta got a tour of the facility Monday.

“There’s so many things you come to a police station for,” Chief Thomas Lee of the Portsmouth Police Department told NBC 10. “Having a nice new modern facility is going to be a great improvement over what we did have.”

The new station, which is still a bit of a construction site, sits directly behind the current station on East Main Road.

The 22,000 square-foot building is more than four times bigger than the 5,000 square-foot station it’s replacing.

For example, they will be going from one dispatch station to four.

“We’ll be able to dispatch police and fire if necessary,” Lee said.

There is also locker room space for male and female officers, with room to grow.

“It’s nice to come up here and have nice facilities for all of our officers -- and to build it for the future,” Lee said.

The chief said the current police station will be demolished to create parking lot space, which is greatly needed.

New cell blocks will allow for a more efficient way to house and process prisoners, considering who may come in and out of there.

Firearm lockers are spread throughout the area so prisoners can’t get their hands on them.

“The building was designed for safety. You come in, you store your firearm. It’s never in close proximity to a person in custody,” Lee said.

The grand opening is set for May 31, but officers said it should be fully operational by the end of this week.