A service building expansion being considered for the Riley County Police headquarters building was discussed during Monday’s Riley County Law Board meeting, with RCPD Asst. Dir. John Doehling explaining to the group the subject has been examined for a couple of years now. While Doehling added the Riley County Commission has given its blessing, there have been some questions about the project’s expense.
Cost estimates at this time are about $575,000. Doehling told Riley County Law Board members Monday hopes are to bring that dollar amount down substantially. He explained the structure would be used for three bays large enough to accommodate large vehicles and auxiliary space that could be used for evidence or a related function.
Doehling adds hopes are to get that number down fairly significantly, but there still are a lot of unknowns. And he admitted some surprise at the estimate considering what the expansion would be used for.
Other items examined by the law board Monday included a report on the RCPD 2016 audit, and the usual yearly approval of a waiver to GAAP, which stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant was also approved to assist with purchase of 21 AR 15 rifles for use by uniformed police officers.
In other business Monday, two life saving awards were presented to Officers Steve Gregoire and Jesse Shane in connection with an April incident of a reported suicide involving a juvenile in a tree with a cord around her neck. The two rushed to her aid as she leapt from a branch.
And the Riley County Police Department has a couple of drones. The matter came up during expenditures discussion at Monday’s Riley County Law Board meeting, with Board member Mike Dodson asking about an invoice relating to a drone. RCPD Director Brad Schoen told the group they are testing a pilot program right now to see if it’s something they want to get into–with one of the drones larger and the other smaller.
Schoen stressed they likely would be used for fairly routine activities such as accident investigations or people who had wandered from care facilities. He further indicated they don’t have any plans for “spy in the sky sort of super secret squirrel stuff.”
Dodson also had questions about fatalities and numbers of accidents on Tuttle Creek Boulevard. Other issues have been reported on Seth Child and Fort Riley Boulevard.
And board member Usha Reddi expressed continuing concerns with underage drinking, with some of the numbers higher than she’s ever seen.Reddi talked about continuing work with school districts–and increasing evidence of even pre-teen children drinking. The most common offenses cited in the semiannual alcohol enforcement report from Riley County Police was consumption of alcohol by a minor and open container, with 47 percent of alcohol citations involving possession or consumption by minors.
