City Commission to Consider RFP for New Police Headquarters

At the February 28th City Commission, elected leaders will consider a Request for Proposals for the acquisition of real estate for a future public safety campus along the South Monroe Street / Orange Avenue corridors. See map below.

The Tallahassee Police Department has conducted operations at headquarters located on Seventh Avenue since 1972. Over the past several decades, space constraints to support modern public safety services have continued to mount within the current building which was originally designed as an elementary school.

Since locating in the current facility, the Department has grown considerably in terms of the number of employees and the variety of services it offers, while more recently implementing a community-oriented approach to public safety. The Department’s five year strategy includes identification of a new facility which would allow a public safety campus to meet current and future strategic and operational needs.

Based on a previously completed needs assessment, a future public safety campus will require up to a 15-acre site to meet the needs of the community for the next 20 to 30 years.

The assessment also identified a number of issues relating to the existing facility including adverse effects on community interaction, adverse effect on recruitment and retention, and incompatibility with modern best practice law enforcement technologies.

Additionally, the study noted several site development considerations, including but not limited to:

• Community and recreational spaces
• Storm water management systems
• Buffer / landscape zoning requirements
• Future expansion consideration
• Public parking
• Secured parking
• Potential for a regional training center and / or firing range

The cost of the new facility has been estimated to be between $40-$50 million.

  City of Tallahassee, Tallahassee Police Department