The Baldwin Police Station will receive a few updates in the near future to make the station a more inviting place, both for staff and the community.
The main update the department will receive will remove the old, separating carpet in the city’s Georgia Crime Information Center department, and replace it with carpet tiles. The tiles will be easier to replace when the carpet is damaged, and make the room a more welcoming space for the staff working there, officials say.
The police department will also update its lobby to remove the two-way mirror service window, replacing it with a glass window. They also plan to repaint the lobby.
“That window [is] very off-putting,” Councilwoman Stephanie Almagno said. “We can do things that will make it [visiting the police department] less stressful. . . and if the philosophy is community policing, then I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
The updates to the lobby are part of Baldwin’s ongoing goal to rebrand its police department as a friendlier, more open community department. Police Chief Jeff Branyon told Now Habersham that one of his goals is to make sure people in the Baldwin community see the law enforcement in the community.
“I tell my officers, ‘I want you to patrol and I want your windows rolled down when you’re in the neighborhoods, I want you talking to the people that are cutting grass and shooting baskets and walking their dogs,’ you know, building relationships,” Branyon said in a September interview. “Because that’s what makes policing work. If the public doesn’t trust us, we’re not effective. So we’ve got to build that trust in the public. That’s what we’re here to do.”
The updates will be paid for through revenue the department made by selling city patrol cars.
