Soddy-Daisy detectives plan move into new facility

Soddy-Daisy police officers Lt. Mike Sneed, left, and Det. Dean Sneed stand at the entrance of the new detective building. Photo by Katie Ward

Soddy-Daisy Police Department's detective division will move into a new 3,200-square-foot building behind Soddy-Daisy City Hall in a few weeks. The building was fully funded by drug funds and constructed for about $284,000.

"The new building has been several years in the making," said Lt. Mike Sneed. "We had three detectives working in a 12-by-14 room and we have two canine officers that need a space to work in. The building was paid for out of drug funds from fines and seizures over the years."

Sneed said the new building will house an evidence room, interview room, large office room for detectives and canine officers, a break room, rest room, two bays and an upstairs storage area for the city of Soddy-Daisy. Sneed will have his own office.

He said officers will be able to seize vehicles involved in crimes and inspect them more thoroughly for fingerprints in a dry bay inside the new building. He said officers will also be able to interrogate suspects involved in crimes better in the more spacious facility. He said detectives handle cases such as burglaries, rapes and narcotics.

"Right now we have one holding cell inside the police department because the second cell became our evidence room," said Sneed. "This facility will expand us back to two holding cells in the city hall building."

He said the police department is growing like the city and needed the new space.

"We are utilizing every square foot of the new building," said Sneed. "We have closet space under the stairs."

He said he has worked for the Soddy-Daisy Police Department for 20 years. He recalls working in the old high school building that once stood where the new building stands. He said in the 1990s the city hall was built and the department moved there.