Allan Appel Photo
The downtown police substation is moving from a tucked-away corner of City Hall to a busy crossroads a block away.
The new substation will share a storefront space with the “ambassadors” and clean-up crews of Town Green Special Services District (pictured in the yellow and black shirts above) near Starbuck’s at the busy corner of Chapel and Church in the 900 Chapel St. building across from the Green.
Police brass broke the news to crime-weary merchants on lower Chapel Street at a Tuesday night management team meeting at Salon LULU.
The move followed months of meetings among the police, Town Green, and downtown property owners looking to find a way to make the cops more visible.
Town Green Public Space Initiatives Manager Matthew Griswold said he expected the new office to open by July. Meanwhile, the police force has been growing the number of patrol officers assigned downtown, as it has in other neighborhoods.
Details and options and even which specific space in the building will ultimately house the new substation are still being worked out between Town Green and its 900 Chapel St. landlord.
Town Green will bear the entire cost, according to Executive Director Win Davis said. It has budgeted an initial $50,000 this year for rent and overhead. The organization’s total annual budget is $1.3 million.
The new shared space will also provide more room to house Town Green’s increased crew of ambassadors and other staff and better communication with the public, Davis said. They currently cram into a space on the 7th floor of 900 Chapel.
“It’ll form a tighter network of security and hospitality downtown just by sharing information and helping each other out. I think the property owners will see the benefit,” Davis said.
This sounds like a pretty good idea. Increased visibility presence downtown can only help. Every little thing we do to encourage lawful behavior has got to be a good thing.
That being said, New Haven's crime issue is a longstanding cultural problem and is going to take long-term solutions to rectify. I do not know what those solutions are (better education, after school programs, better social structures for parents in tough situations, etc.?), but I suspect the police are just one part of the solution.