The Observer

It’s only about two miles from the old Olive Branch Police Department to the new facility, but it’s taken the department years to arrive at their first official home.

For the past several years, the OBPD has shared the 10,000-square-foot former Olive Branch Methodist Church building with the city’s court and communications departments. Prior to that the police were housed in a former funeral home located on part of what is now the current City Hall site, and before that the OBPD was based in a handful of small rooms in the back of the old City Hall – a building that is now a fire station next to Gillespie Funeral Home on Pigeon Roost Road.

All three of the old locations are within a stone’s throw of each other, while the new location is on Highway 178.

“I’m excited,” said current Olive Branch Police Chief Don Gammage, who has seen the dreams of the new station discussed throughout his career as an Olive Branch patrolman, detective, assistant chief and now chief. “We're proud of it.”

The new facility has almost double the space of the old police station, with one important difference – all of it is for the police department.

Personnel began packing boxes and moving to the new building last week, with officials expecting the move to be completed by early this week.

“We are a little busy this weekend getting moved into our new police station,” Major Tim Presley explained Saturday on the department’s Facebook page. “We will get your questions caught up on here ASAP.

“Our public safety on the street will not be hindered at all during the move -- just a few administrative functions will be a little slower than usual,” he added. “Thanks everyone for your patience and understanding.”

The Olive Branch Police Department has 71 sworn officers, and protects and serves a population of approximately 32,500 citizens. According to Gammage, the new station will also provide better security for department personnel.

“The entire building is secure,” he observed. “We have motion detectors, keypad admittance and 51 security cameras, both inside and out.”

Large, 47-inch television monitors are placed at locations throughout the station, giving officers a live look at the view from each camera.

The new facility features a 600-bin evidence room, separate locker rooms for male and female personnel, an exercise room, a kitchen/break room, a paved patio and even covered enclosures for the OBPD’s canine officers. There’s also an indoor facility where officers can dismantle evidence vehicles as they search for drugs or other illegal contraband.

According to Gammage, the station will be open for business from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. After hours, residents can use a phone installed outside the front door of the facility -- a phone that’s directly connected to the city’s communications department, which will dispatch an officer to the scene.

In addition to the new building and new furniture, the department has also added new equipment to help in the fight against crime.

Detectives now have their own special computers, part of which can be easily removed and taken to a crime scene. After the officer has entered all the information into the portable computer, they can return to the station and re-connect the smaller section to a larger desk computer.

All the data taken at the scene is automatically downloaded into the system, thus providing more time for the detectives to work on solving the crime.

In addition, officers can now drive their squad cars into a secure area of the station and safely transport suspects to a booking area that features separate holding cells for male and female juveniles and adults, as well as a state-of-the-art evidence locker.

Along with the new facility comes a new telephone number as well. The department has added 662-892-9400 as a new, non-emergency, number.

According to Mayor Sam Rikard, the city’s new court building is expected to be ready for occupancy around the first week of March. Located behind City Hall, the structure will also be the new home of the Olive Branch Mayor and Board of Aldermen meetings, hopefully starting with the board’s March 16 meeting.

With the departure of its current tenants, the former Methodist church building will become home to the Olive Branch Fire Department, which will use the facility for offices and training purposes.