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Police in Somerville clashed with Teamsters to shield scofflaw Russell
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Somerville police: 20-year-old HQ needs replacement
In Somerville, too, the police are looking for a new home, although the present Public Safety Building is less than 20 years old.
The Mayor’s office, which seldom agrees with Police Chief McLean about anything, is looking for a site on which to build a new station. The only issue is whether to move police headquarters into some temporary quarters in the meantime.
Alderman Denise Provost often differs with Mayor Curtatone, but on this issue she agrees, "The building is sick."
The main problem seems to be mold spores, which flourish because of flooding in the lower part of the building, occupied by the Fire Department.
The Public Safety Building is on the site of a former MBTA car barn. One day, before the barn was demolished, around a hundred MBTA workers linked arms in a protest against the closure of the facility. The Somerville police forcibly broke up the demonstration.
In recent years the City, which has relied upon State aid for half its budget, was been especially hard hit by local aid budget cuts. Somerville is so strapped for cash that it has fewer than 100 patrolmen.
Yet, as in Cambridge, nobody is talking about repairing the existing building or about the comparative costs of starting from scratch.
If Homeland Security funds are being sought, no one is talking about that, either.