Part of the largest remaining parcel in all of central Manteca will — assuming there are no construction delays — within 24 months serve as the new home of the Manteca Police Department.

Mayor Gary Singh made it clear at Wednesday’s groundbreaking on the southern half of the 8 acre parcel in the 600 block of South Main Street that “a building by itself does not keep the community safe, the people (in the MPD ranks) do.”

That said, the 52,898 square-foot facility targeted for completion in mid-2028 will not only help those men and women that serve and protect do their jobs more effectively, but will also help keep them safe and healthy.

It is not hyperbole.

The existing police station is cramped.

Closets out of necessity were converted to offices decades ago.

The open lay-out with open breezeways connecting various operations secured by wrought iron fencing is less than stellar.

Bullet-proof glass wasn’t a reality in the lobby — just slightly more spacious than the footprint of a Ford Expedition SUV — until recently.

The new station has passive security measures incorporated as well as meeting the state’s much more stringent structural engineering standards that require buildings housing first responder operations tp be able to withstand and function after a 7.0 earthquake.

It’s a simple concept. Knock out the police officers’ support facility and you severely weaken the effectiveness of police in emergencies whether it is the aftermath of a major quake or responding to priority one calls when lives and property are in grave danger.

The new station is designed with those capable of trying to crash vehicles into police buildings or — as what happened years ago in Ripon — a crazed gunman repeatedly firing into glass windows in mind.

Where the ceremonial tossing of groundbreaking dirt took place, is roughly where a locker room and adjoining fitness and health facility will be located that can accommodate up to 130 officers keeping in mind there is more than one gender.

Currently, the department has 85 officers.

Making a fitness facility readily available when officers are off duty is an effective way to not just help keep them in shape but to combat stress.

As for support services, dispatchers won’t be crammed elbow to elbow in tight quarters. They will even have a break area they now lack.

The new complex will be designed with a real time crime center wedded to the ability to launch first responder drones. Typically, drones arrive at those priority one calls ahead of officers providing eyes to allow an overview so responders aren’t going into situations blind and can deploy resources and respond in less time and more effectively.

There is even a respite kennel area — if you will — for police dogs when their human partners are at the police station tackling needed tasks. It is air conditioned and part of a separate building for various support needs that are not required to be housed in a much more expensive structure to withstand 7.0 earthquakes.

It is one example of how the city has worked to keep building costs down without sacrificing the level of service delivery.

The community room — that will be made available for community use — is not a superfluous space.

It will do double duty as an emergency command center — think the major train derailment in February 1989, the devastating 1997 floods, or the pandemic and PG&E wildfire power shutdowns.

It will also allow the department to expand its community outreach whether it is offering crime prevention seminars, conducting beat outreach meetings to address and hear safety concerns in specific Manteca neighborhoods such as Ripon Police conduct in Ripon, and other ventures.

The building was designed to allow for future expansion.

Police chief’s remarks

Police Chief Stephen Schluer made it clear how the building will support the department’s mission to serve and protect Manteca as it grows

“(It is) to serve the community generations to come,” the chief said.

He noted it wouldn’t have been possible without the passage of the three-quarter cent Measure Q sales tax in 2024.

Schluer vowed the department will honor the trust voters placed in them by passing the tax measure as he added “a thank-you to the people of Manteca.”

Singh — who has become a political lightning rod for those still irked about the tax measure’s passage due to his high profile effort to appeal to voters by conducting over 100 outreach meetings with groups to explain what Measure Q would allow the city to do — noted over the last 25 years Manteca has tried to build a new police station but failed to do so.

“For years there was discussion, planning, and studies but no money to pay for it,” Singh said.

It’s a reality echoed by former police chief and current councilman Charlie Halford.

Halford was a cadet when the department was still housed in what is now the Old City Hall in the 100 block of Sycamore Avenue in 1975. He was a freshly minted Manteca Police officer the year the current station opened in 1976.

Now 50 years later, Halford is part of the council that is delivering a new police station.

“(Measure Q) turns years of discussion into real construction,” Singh told more than 150 people on hand for the groundbreaking.

City Manager Toni Lundgren praised staff for their concerted efforts in helping to make a new police station a reality.

Lundgren stressed “the impact Measure Q is really going to have on the community.”

That impact continues next week with the groundbreaking of the city’s sixth fire station in southwest Manteca.

Physical site work on the new police station starts in November. It will take 18 months to complete.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com