Officer Roll Call Podcast: A Spotlight on Station Design

On this episode of the Officer Roll Call Podcast, OFFICER Magazine Editor Paul Peluso and Officer Media Group Editorial Director Frank Borelli discuss the third annual Officer Station Design Awards (OSDA) program, which recognizes outstanding architecture and design from law enforcement and public safety facilities nationwide.

Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were issued across five categories of facilities and all entries were be published in the November/December issue of OFFICER Magazine.

“We’re very proud to be able to present this awards program,” says Peluso. “It’s a collection of some of the best facilities that have been submitted to us. Law enforcement facilities from combined facilities to training facilities to headquarters that have been constructed. This program has really done well for us, and it’s something that I think is a little bit different in the industry.”

While Borelli says he was skeptical at first when the awards program was launched that an issue devoted to station design would be of interest for OFFICER’s readership, his outlook changed when he saw the finished product. “I didn’t expect there to be anything of great interest. I expected it to be pretty boring. When you go into a lot of facilities, especially the traditional 20-, 30-, 40-year-old facilities, they are all industrial-grade, cinderblock and steel with gray pain and there’s not a lot of personality to them. I’ve really been pleasantly surprised, not only with the participation we’ve seen from the industry both on the architectural side, the design side and the law enforcement and public safety side, but in the things they are doing now to make the facilities modern. It’s no more just the cinderblocks and steel and ‘We’re going to build it to last 150 years and be rugged and durable and ugly.’ It’s not ugly anymore. These things really look great, and they perform amazingly well.”

When it comes to the feedback Borelli has received from law enforcement command staff on the need for new construction, he says that the most common response is that they need new buildings or refurbished buildings that are going to be more cost effective, are going to encompass more capabilities and make the public feel more integrated and welcomed into the agency. “From the operator side of it—guys working the street—they want to know what’s going to be available that they didn’t have before. Is there going to be a gym in the new building? Are the storage facilities going to be better? Is the evidence going to be better?”

He says that is refreshing to see the new designs submitted to the magazine that have integrated the public and opened things up to make the public feel more welcome, while also serving the agency’s need. “That balance is so intricate,” adds Borelli.

Several trends highlighted by this year’s awards include planning for expansion and the increased use of natural light in the architectural design.

When it comes to planning for expansion, Borelli says this can be key to making sure the facility will fulfill the future needs of the agency. “If you know you have needs that your budget can’t afford right now, you can stagger them out and know when your budget is going to be able to afford them and build onto them. But you have to plan for that add-on later or you have to go through the whole design process again.”

With the trend of allowing for more light for both officers to work and to create a more welcoming environment for the public comes the need for more security. This includes the need for ballistic-rated glass. “It becomes a tricky game of trying to be literally more transparent by having more glass involved, but at the same time having those issues with security,” says Peluso.

Borelli agrees, stressing that this is a problem law enforcement agencies have struggled with for decades. “You have to balance the feeling of welcome versus the balance of access. With new materials and new design features, the architectural firms and construction companies have done a great job with that. It’s a challenge that is never going to go away.”

The Officer Media Group would like to thank the architecture firms and departments involved for submitting their facilities. This includes Hoefer Welker (Lawrence Police Headquarters and North Little Rock Justice Center), Context Architecture (Medford Police Headquarters), Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects (South San Francisco Civic Campus Police Station), FGM Architects (Cary Municipal Center), BRW Architects (Garland Police Police Property and Evidence), Moseley Architects (Front Royal Police Headquarters), kga inc. (San Marcos Police Department), Architects Design Group (Provo Public Safety & City Center and Kissimmee Public Safety Training Facility) and Clark Nexsen Inc. (Loudoun County Public Safety Firing Range) and The Johnson McAdams Firm (Federal Law Enforcement Training Facility/Federal Protection Services).