Referendum for new Milford PD headquarters passed

MILFORD, Del. – The Milford Police Department is set to get a brand new headquarters.  The town passing a referendum Tuesday night to borrow up to $20 million to fund its construction. The city will also be able to use a property tax increase to pay the money back. “We’ll have a lot more space that we desperately need and we’re hoping that it’s enough space to look into the future for at least 20 years, so we’re not having to do this again,” said Chief Kenneth Brown.

Chief Brown says the police department is in desperate need of a new facility, and has been for years. He says not only do they simply need the extra space, the new facility would also bolster security and safety. “We can secure prisoners the way that it should be and is expected in the 21st century. That’s with the sally port that we drive into. We bring them out once the doors are closed. We get them out and directly into the secure portion of the building,” said Chief Brown.

Chief Brown adds the police department will also be able to move forward with creating a behavioral health unit. “I’m hoping that we can start the behavioral unit here shortly. While we’re in the planning or design stage of the building, we can see how that is going to work,” said Chief Brown.

Another opportunity is the construction of a community room. Chief Brown says the room would also be used to hold department meetings. “We would like the community to share that room with us in the sense of civic organizations being able to use it,” said Chief Brown.

Now the focus will be on finding an architect and a builder with the help of a citizen advisory board. “This whole entire town – particularly the police department – is so happy with the result of this, not only because we got it approved, but because of the two to one margin,” said Chief Brown.