Mayor Malik Evans is re-evaluating plans for neighborhood police stations, saying those no longer are a priority of the department and there might be better uses for the land.
“It’s this old-school thinking that you need these big buildings,” Mayor Malik Evans said on WXXI’s Connections program Tuesday. “So much of what we do now is technology based, and people being out in the field.”
The city spent well over $1 million to acquire the property on Lake Avenue and along East and West Main streets, relocating residents and drafting elaborate designs.
All that was done under former Mayor Lovely Warren, when Evans was on City Council.
But in fall 2020, City Council pulled the funding for the East Main Street station after learning about the death of Daniel Prude while in police custody, and the abrupt resignation of the RPD command staff.
Nothing happened since. And Evans, who took office last year, has yet to set a clear course forward.
“There has been some grace,” said City Council member Mitch Gruber. “But one thing that council has said repeatedly is we want to have that question … answered very specifically.”
Evans on Tuesday promised further discussion with City Council and the community “about what we do with the land.” He suggested the land could be repurposed for use by Neighborhood Service Centers or "other community-based things.”
An internal analysis looking at RPD staffing and a separate outside assessment of NSCs should help answer those questions.
