Come March 1, the North Delta community police station (CoPS) will have a new home on 80th Avenue.
It’s been a long time coming. The CoPS office was intending to move nearly a year ago, but due to discussions between the building owner and the City of Delta, that move became more and more delayed.
Now, the community office is almost ready to move into its new location, at 11906 80 Ave.
“It’s very bright, cheery for the volunteers. There’s natural light that comes in,” said Sgt. Cathy Geddes, who is in charge of the Delta Police Department’s community policing section. “So the atmosphere in there is really positive. It’s just got a great feeling.
“Whereas the other one, it’s in the mall. We don’t get a lot of foot traffic through there. People don’t even know that it’s there.”
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The current CoPS office is in Scottsdale Mall, which isn’t ideal, Geddes said. The station has to comply with mall hours, and sees few walk-ins. In this new location, which will be called the North Delta Liaison Office, Geddes is hoping to get more people stopping in.
“We’ve got an exterior frontage there; it’s the most populated spot in North Delta, being across the street from Delta Rise,” Geddes said. “It’s very high visibility at that location.”
Although the move will bring the office out into the public eye, it won’t change any of its programs, Geddes said. It will have additional space for the 20-person bike patrol, as well as desks for the volunteers, civilian coordinator, two police officers and any patrol members working in the area.
“Our new model is when we have a community concern, our volunteers help out, patrol helps out. If it’s a school, then we get them involved,” she said. “It’s a layered approach to integrating everybody.”
“That’ll be exciting for us,” Geddes continued. “It’s not just one section responsible to get the job done. Everybody will have an input.”
Hours for the CoPS office will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Volunteers will be moving desks and other materials into the office on Wednesday, Feb. 28 and it will be officially open to the public on Thursday, March 1.
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