Work is already underway on the new Lathrop police station – the first ever being constructed in the city solely for law enforcement purposes.

In his monthly address to the community Lathrop Police Chief Ryan Biedermann posed in front of the plot of land near Islanders Field at River Islands that will soon be home to Lathrop Police Services – a state-of-the-art complex being paid for up front by River Islands – to illustrate that ground has already been broken on the construction project expected to last just over a year.

Biedermann hinted that he has hopes that a portion of the actual building will be completed by the end of the calendar year and hopes that construction will finish ahead of schedule so that the city will have the amenities it needs as it grows into a mid-sized Central California city.

With the recent shuttering of the Lathrop police station on 7th Street – the city was unable to negotiate lease terms with the property owner for the transitional period while the new facility is under construction – all of the operations related to law enforcement are being ran out of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office in French Camp, and deputies assigned to the city as part of the law enforcement contract will be working out of that office until they move into the new complex.

While the city had several options for constructing a new police department inside of the city limits – including purchasing a plot of land across the street from City Hall and expanding the city’s current footprint in the Mossdale area of the city – the council voted to partner with River Islands for a facility that will eventually be centrally located in the heart of where the majority of Lathrop’s residential population resides.

The developer will foot the initial bill of $8.8 million – which does not include the 2.5 acres of land that the building will sit on or the potential land for expansion – and recuperate those costs through building permits as more residential tracts come up for development. The city will be contributing $1.8 million from its Municipal Services community facilities fee fund that is generated by growth to bring the project to fruition.

The single story building will include the agency’s administrative offices, a public lobby, public and employee restrooms, and a temporary holding facility for up to five people under restraint – something that Lathrop Police Services currently does not have at its existing facility on Seventh Street, prompting deputies to transport those arrested to French Camp for booking into the San Joaquin County Jail which takes them out of the city. It will be constructed across River Islands Parkway from the recently opened Islanders Ballpark and will be adjacent to the San Joaquin River.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.