PUBLIC SAFETY
The new $36 million New Braunfels Police Headquarters opened in early August. (Sierra Martin/Community Impact)
Police department settling into new station
NEW BRAUNFELS Growing with The New Braunfels Police Headquarters is over twice the size of its old facility. The building provides ample space for each department to operate and accommodates for future growth.
BY SIERRA MARTIN
houses vehicle maintenance bays, river patrol equipment and a gym. Vargas said that the new space has given o cers a renewed sense of pride in their jobs and has helped with recruiting new sta . “You get that renewed sense of enthusiasm for what you do, and so I think that impact has a ton of positive impact on our [o cers],” Vargas said. On the property of the headquarters is a new veterans memorial—visible from San Antonio Street and in front of the entrance—that pays tribute to residents of New Braunfels who have served the country. Members of the community can purchase an inscribed brick that will be permanently installed in the memorial. Residents can utilize the new police depart- ment headquarters by ling police reports and records requests at the facility. A public space to host meetings can also be reserved by groups or organizations. “I’m most excited for [our o cers] ... to see their reactions when they actually came over here and got to be in a building that has enough space and has all the amenities,” New Braunfels Chief of Police Keith Lane said. “It shows them how much the community values them.”
The New Braunfels Police Department moved into its new $36 million, state-of-the-art headquar- ters Aug. 8, replacing its existing facility. About 150 o cers work from the building, which has been constructed to accommodate for the pro- jected growth of the city. Assistant Chief of Police Joe Vargas said the cutting-edge upgrades in resources available at the new headquarters have expanded the capabilities of the department. “We pride ourselves on providing the absolute best service that we can in the community and meeting those expectations and providing for that quality of life,” Vargas said. “These things help us get there far more e ciently than we could in the past.” The two-story headquarters includes o ce space for all police divisions, a large break room, expanded evidence storage and training rooms. Multiple departments also have their own conference rooms in addition to an emergency operation center. A new dispatch facility with cutting-edge tech- nology houses seven sta , with the capability of expanding to 15 as the New Braunfels population trends upward. Behind the headquarters is a brand new 14,000-square-foot annex facility, which
New facility 65,000 SQUARE FEET
Total cost of new facility* $36.3M
Old facility 30,000 SQUARE FEET
*INCLUDES THE VETERAN’S MEMORIAL SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS COMMUNITY IMPACT
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NEW BRAUNFELS EDITION • OCTOBER 2022
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