The Police Public Lobby

The Public Lobby    

Public Lobbies of Police Buildings must accommodate a number of interactions between the police department and the public.  Some departments utilize sworn officers to staff the Front Desk; others use civilians, either stand-alone, or as a part of the Records Counter Function.  The following is a list of functions that might occur and spaces that might be needed in a typical Police Building Lobby:

• Make a Report on a Property Crime
• Make a Report on a Persons Crime
• Obtain a Record
• Pay a Traffic Fine (if done at the Department)
• Arrive for an Appointment
• Victim
• Suspect
• Vendor
• Technician
• Administration visitor
• Speak with an Officer in the Lobby
• Participating in a Community Policing Meeting
• Participating in a Community Meeting
• Prisoner Release
• Property Release
• Family/Friends waiting area
• Display area
• Rest Rooms
• Place of Refuge
• Vending Machines, Telephone
• Video Feed for Video Arraignments
• Obtain a gun permit
• Have fingerprints taken

Each of these actions or spaces need to be discussed in order to determine how best to serve the public in the new facility.  One way to begin an analysis is to have the staff at the Front Desk keep a daily log of the visitors for a long enough period of time to determine actual use, and then project those uses appropriately for an anticipated, future demand.

If the Lobby is not open 24 hours a day, there needs to be an emergency phone located adjacent to or in the Lobby Vestibule, which may be open even if the Lobby itself is closed.

Lobby security Issues will be covered in a subsequent blog.

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Building Security – Site Issues

Each jurisdiction will determine its own level of security requirements, which in turn will influence building security decisions.  When looking at a prospective site for a law enforcement or public safety building, there are a number of security related issues that must be addressed.  Here are a few of them.

Can the building be set back from the street sufficiently to minimize an impact from bomb blast?  Current DOJ standards call for a minimum of a 50’ setback from the street to sensitive public buildings.  In a dense, urban area this may not be possible due to the limited availability of property, or if your project is a to renovate a building that has an existing, limited setback. 

Buildings can be protected from being run into by explosive carrying vehicles with the proper placement of bollards, and by including in the site design swales that will stop a vehicle.  Swales can be a part of the building’s sustainable design features.  Utility lines and air intakes should be protected from accidents or deliberate attacks that would endanger the building’s occupants.

Day-lighting is important to the interior environment, but it may also expose officers to risk from the outside.  Where daylight is desired, consider placing windows high enough so that there are no direct site lines into the building from street level.  This will minimize the chance of injury if shots are fired into the building from the street.

Two means of ingress and egress to the site are critical to the ongoing operations of the department.  With only one drive in and out for staff, all it takes Is one disabled vehicle to block a department’s entire operations.

Official vehicles and public parking should not be mixed.  Official vehicles, and often officers’ civilian cars, need to be securely separated from access by the public.  The Sally Port needs to be in a secure area, away from street visibility if possible.

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Design Issues for Police Buildings

Communities face the need for a law enforcement or public safety facility for many reasons.  It can be as simple as the building’s age or condition, a recent incident with a prisoner that made the headlines, a lack of security within or around the existing building,  poor evidence holding conditions, or just a simple lack of space,

Whatever the reason, the design of a new police building is no simple matter.  There are many operational and security issues unique to police buildings, and we hope to cover them in successive blogs. Here are a few of the issues that we will discuss:

·         Building Security, from the site to the holding cells and evidence storage areas.

·         The Public Lobby – accessibility, functionality, security issues and community policing functions

·         Prisoner processing and holding.

·         Evidence processing and storage; Chain of evidence inventory control

·         Releasing evidence to the owner

·         Sharing a building with your Fire Department

·         Future staff projections: additional personnel or regional consolidation?

·         Interaction among officers: is “face-time” important?

·         Communications and Emergency Operations

·         Community Rooms- what are the trade-offs?

·         Technology

There are many examples of departments learning about some of these issues by visiting other departments with new facilities and learning firsthand about what worked or did not work for that agency.  However, in our experience, each law enforcement agency seems to have a few of its own unique characteristics that may not apply to your situation. 

Think work tasks and operations out using a “best practice” scenario for the future, not necessarily based on current operations, which may be physically constrained.  Empower your staff to help shape both future operations and the design of the facility by involving them in the entire process.