4 Things to Consider When Designing a Police Station

There is no template or formula for a successful police station design. Many stations
have similar components or core functions, but personnel use them in different ways
and need them to perform to different standards.

For example, it’s safe to say every police department needs an evidence room. Based
on their operations and caseload, however, their needs will vary. One department may
need an 800 sq. ft. room, while another needs 3,000 sq. ft. for evidence storage.

A department’s needs want, and vision for the future—as well as the future of the
community they serve—all inform their building’s design. So where do you start? There
are a few important things to consider early when planning for a new law enforcement
facility.
 #1 – Police Station Location

The location of a new police headquarters or station is key to its ability to serve the
community. Oftentimes, citizens want to feel close to the station or want it to be a
visible and accessible part of the neighborhood or city—not an unapproachable place at
the edge of town. This makes them feel safer and more connected to the force.

If you are looking for a new site, it’s also important to consider your call volume and
where your force is most active. What possible obstacles exist for a particular spot? Are
there active train tracks nearby? A busy school? While officers spend most of their time
in their vehicles, consider the ease with which they can access the station for roll call,
training, and other functions, as well as accessibility to those you serve.

The physical plot of land is also important. If you currently own a site that you want to
rebuild, is it large enough to accommodate the way your department operates today,
compared to when it was purchased? Is there room for an addition or a larger building
footprint? Will there be space for expansion in the future if necessary?

Also think about other properties your department owns, such as storage facilities or
ancillary training facilities. Are these things that could be consolidated onto a new site
to centralize your operations and save money?

Some police headquarters are located in a municipal complex with other city functions,
such as clerk, mayor, or even school administration offices. This can be a viable option
to save on cost. However, if you are considering this approach, make sure it is
appropriate for your department’s operations, growth potential, and future space needs.
It can be much harder to expand down the road when sharing a site with other offices.
 #2 – Different Building Uses

Law enforcement facilities are unique because of their dramatically different user
groups. This can include officers, detectives, administrative staff, public safety
communications/dispatch personnel, individuals in police custody, and the general
public.

This means you must consider a wide variety of uses for your building—both current
and future—as well as what type of space (and how much of it) those uses require to
be effective. This could include:

 Large group instruction

 Tactical training
 Forensics labs
 Evidence storage
 911 dispatch / public safety communications
 Holding cells
 Interview rooms
 Secure areas for police and tactical vehicles
 Sally port and secure inmate transfer
 Roll call and staff meeting space
 A place for ceremonies or department recognition events
 Kitchen or café area
 Workout facilities
 Space to meet with community groups or members
 Public entrance and lobby
Your building’s design and flow should cater to your processes and procedures, making
operations easier and more efficient. While there is a place for aesthetically pleasing
design in a police station, function is the first priority. Design should never impede the
job that needs to be done.

#3 – Technology Needs

A crucial component of an effective police station is technology system design. The

devices, software, and systems that police departments use are evolving. From dispatch
to patrol to forensics, consider all of the systems you need in place and operational as
soon as you move in.

Also, consider how these tools—or how you use them—can change. Do you have plans
to update or phase out the equipment you are currently using? What does this look like
if the force grows? Work with your technology and design team to accurately estimate
what kind of space you need for storage, charging, and maintenance today and in the
future.

Be sure to think about how you are collecting and using the output from your
equipment. What network capabilities do you need for transferring and storing data,
such as from vehicle and body cameras?

When designing conferences and workspaces, consider the tools your team needs to do
their job every day. Make decisions about video conferencing, virtual reality training
equipment, and other technology tools during the design phase.

And of course, establishing the appropriate station security infrastructure is critical. This
includes your secure entrances, building key card access, security cameras, etc.
 #4 – Connection with the Community

The police station design is no longer just about building a secure, operational building.
More than ever before, integration and relationship building with the community is a
significant components of effective law enforcement. Consider how you can connect
your new space with the community surrounding it while maintaining the necessary
level of security.

Are there shared spaces you can create to increase your reach into the neighborhood?
This might include a gym for use by all municipal employees, a parking garage open to
the public, or a green space or a basketball court accessible to passersby.

The more you can provide benefits for and connectivity with citizens, the more buy-in
and support you will have for your construction project. This can also earn more
support for your department as a whole by increasing opportunities for interaction with
those you protect and serve
5 Public Safety Building Design Ideas To Consider

Public Safety Construction

Before bids are submitted and construction has started, check out our list of the top 5
public safety construction design ideas to consider when for your police station design

1. Being approachable to the public is at the forefront of a facility’s renovation. Having

an approachable, community-friendly interior and exterior so the public feels safe to
come in to file a complaint or engage with officers and the department is essential.

2. With the rise of online buying and selling transactions with the public from sites like
Craig List and Facebook Marketplace, public safety facilities like the Braintree Police
Department have an internet safety exchange location that was incorporated in
their police station design.
3. Police officers strive to connect with kids and youth early on to establish a sense of
security and trust in the community and build a positive relationships. Some police
stations will offer a recreation room, public basketball court, community room or
community cafe to have “coffee with a cop” for this reason that is separately accessible
to the public.
4. Evidence, files, armory, hazardous materials, detainee property, and having proper
storage for public safety facilities with a high emphasis on security is also a big trend on
the rise like this Law Enforcement Facility Design article mentions here.
5. Last but certainly not least, is flooring. Yes, it may sound silly. But did you know not
having static control flooring can drop an incoming emergency phone call? Using Static
Smart’s patent-protected ESD flooring that includes a lifetime warranty, you eliminate
any failure in operations that could occur from static electricity.
 This conference room planning guide is offered as an efficient tool that can help you
get started on the process of selecting and buying your conference room furniture.
There are practical size & code requirements for fitting conference furniture into a
room. The most important consideration is the size of your room because the
conference table’s size, its shape, the size of the chairs, and any ancillary storage
credenzas, must be planned according to your room’s capacity. It is very important
that the room does not appear cramped or crowded.
The charts and guidelines provided here are a starting point. You must know what size
table you are going to need in order to obtain accurate quotes. When you look at a
photo and see 10 chairs around a table generally you’re looking at a 10’ table with four
chairs on each side and one chair at the ends of the table. A quick way to find the
appropriate size table is to take the length of the room and subtract 10 feet. This allows
5 feet at the head of the table for walk space. If you have a 22-foot room a 12-foot
table is a great fit. Yes, you can go for a larger table if you are willing to sacrifice
walkway space. But remember that there are code minimums that need to be
considered Not all conference tables have the same knee space clearance and you
might have to settle for fewer chairs around the table than the standard guidelines that
are listed here permit.
If you are adding credenzas and storage remember that most storage is 20” or 24”
deep. You must also take door swing clearances into consideration.

Spacing Guidelines:
 Allow 48″ between table and wall for minimum clearances
 Allow 56″ between table and wall for more comfortable space
 Allow 16″ to walk sideways between chair and wall
 Allow 24″ to walk between chair and wall without turning sideways
 Allow 30″ side to side per chair
 Allow 32″ to 34″ between table and back of chair to rise from chair
 Allow 38″ to 40″ between table and back of chair to rise from chair when confined by
other sitters
 Allow 56″ between table and visual display board
 Allow 36″ bending space to use under counter cabinets or lower shelves of bookcase
 Allow 72″ between table and wall for 24″-deep storage towers and credenzas
 Allow 30″ between table and back of chair to use keyboard
 Allow 24″ to 30″ for standing and presenting material on wall
 TV or monitor viewing recommended at 30 to 45 degrees from center of the screen.

INTERROGATION ROOM

The information gathered in a police interrogation room – sometimes called a secure

interview room or hard interview room– during an interrogation of a suspect is not just
investigative or probative – it is also evidence. As such, great care should be taken in
how that information is collected. Police personnel may only have one chance to secure
evidence gathered during an interrogation, and they must be able to stand up in court.
The layout of the interview room and audio/video recording devices are vital to
legitimately securing evidence obtained during an interview.
Also tantamount to the collection of evidence through the interview is the safety and
security of the people in the interrogation/interview room, including the suspect and
interviewer, and of the other individuals inside the police facility. The level of security
for an interrogation room will differ from that of a "soft" interview room -- also known
as a witness/victim interview room, which is used for witnesses and other people not in
custody. The layout and security measures for an interrogation room should not only
prevent the suspect from leaving the room unauthorized but should also prevent any
unauthorized person from entering the interview room.

Number and Size

There should be at least three interrogation rooms in a police facility to allow for the
simultaneous questioning of multiple individuals. Each room should be large enough for
three people and the required furniture, but not so large that there is a lot of unutilized
space. A large room with a lot of unnecessary open space could cause the interviewee
to be less focused on the subject matter of the interview. A room that is 8 x 10 feet is
preferable.
The interrogation rooms should be adjacent to the suspect processing area and be
within the secure part of the facility. Transporting suspects into or through the main
parts of the police station creates unnecessary security risks.

Walls
The walls of an interrogation room need to provide a high degree of soundproofing. It
is important for privacy purposes that communications that take place within the room
cannot be heard in adjacent rooms or in the hallway. For example, if two suspects are
being questioned in two separate interview rooms and one suspect overhears the other
interview, the integrity of both interviews could be compromised.
To maximize acoustical privacy, the room perimeter should have a Speech Privacy
Potential (SPP) rating of 85. SPP is a measure of speech privacy between two spaces. A
rating of 85 means that loud speech - even shouting - would not be audibly
recognizable through the walls.
One way to achieve this high SPP rating is to construct the walls using solid-core
masonry blocks or blocks with concrete-filled cores. Additional soundproofing can be
achieved with studs and two layers of gypsum board on one or both sides of the block
wall, with sound attenuation insulation between the studs. The walls should run from
the floor deck below to the underside of the deck above to prevent sounds from leaking
out above the walls.
Another advantage of the high walls is to prevent someone from climbing over a
potential void between the top of a low wall and the underside of the floor or roof deck
above. The solid block construction also prevents escape through the wall, since holes
in a gypsum board/drywall partition can be made relatively easily by kicking through it.
Even the holes that duct run through are potential places where an escape could occur.
All ducts through the walls should have a security mesh inside to prevent a person from
crawling out.

Doors
Doors need to be windowless and flush metal with solid cores. People walking by
outside the room could be distracting to the interview if interrogation room doors had
windows. It could also create problems if the suspect sees another suspect or witness
related to the same crime walk by. In addition, the door should open outward in order
to prevent the door from being used as a weapon by any person within the room and to
prevent anyone from blocking access to the room.
To help with soundproofing the room, provide sound gaskets all around the door,
including an automatic door bottom.
 An automatic door bottom is a mechanical device that seals the gap between the door
bottom and the floor when the door is closed to prevent sound transmission under the
door. It automatically retracts when the door is opened.
There should be no lock on the inside of the door, eliminating the possibility of a
person, whether it be the suspect or someone else, locking the door from the inside
and preventing authorized access. Door locks should be accessed from outside the
room and should be controlled by a proximity card reader.
References:

https://schmidt-arch.com/4-things-to-consider-when-designing-a-police-station/

https://staticsmart.com/5-public-safety-building-design-ideas-to-consider/

https://www.ambiencedore.com/conference-room-planning-guide/

https://blog.fentress.com/blog/best-design-practices-for-police-interrogation-rooms