By JODI WOLFE
Staff Writer
jwolfe@yourneighborhoodnews.com

The Allenstown Building Space Needs Committee is continuing to look for a new home for the police department.

Currently, the police station is located in the basement of the Allenstown Municipal Building. Parking is limited and space is cramped for the 10 full-time police officers, the department’s secretary and the department’s prosecutor.

Recently, the police station was evaluated for risk management and liability by the town’s insurer, Local Government Property-Liability Trust, Inc.

During the Oct. 13 Allenstown Building Space Needs Committee meeting, risk management representative Al Burbank submitted his report on his evaluation of the police department.

“These items have the potential of incurring several liabilities for the town,” he said.

Burbank found that the civilian secretary is not safe because between her desk and the lobby, there is only a thin sheet of Plexiglas, which is not bulletproof.

Another thing that Burbank found is that because of the lack of space in the police department, prisoners in the booking area are not separated from employees and citizens.

“We’ve had prisoners stab themselves with pencils,” Lt. Shaun Mulholland said.

Since there is not additional storage for weapons, prisoners could easily access weapons, endangering those working in the police department and those working in the town offices above the police station, Burbank stated in his report.

Another liability issue Burbank found is the single bathroom that is used by all employees, male and female, as well as prisoners. At the meeting, Mulholland said this is a safety concern because the prisoners can lock themselves in the bathroom where police officers also store their weapons in lockers.

During the meeting, Burbank also told the committee that his study will impact the town’s insurance costs, he said. With the many short- and long-term solutions up in the air, the committee agreed that nothing could be put on a warrant until the March 2006 election.

Mulholland said he would like the committee to consider some inexpensive short-term solutions while continuing to work on a long-term goal of a new building.

“Liability issues need to be addressed right away,” said Mulholland.

To prepare for the next space needs committee meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 27, Mulholland is looking into the cost of replacing the Plexiglas with bulletproof Lexan glass, installing an alarm system, reversing the bathroom door to lock on the outside for prisoners, renting a portable storage space and moving high-risk prisoners up to the Merrimack County prison in Boscawen.

Bringing prisoners 45 minutes north to Boscawen would mean overtime for officers, said Mulholland.

Another option discussed at the Oct. 13 meeting is converting the Allenstown Elementary School building into the police station and town hall. Mulholland will be meeting with an architect to determine the cost of that before the Oct. 27 meeting; however, the use of that building is contingent on the school board’s decision to build a new elementary school.

That decision will also be brought to the Oct. 27 meeting. “That meeting is going to be key to the future of this,” said Mulholland.