As three police satellite precincts close, a new precinct is being planned.
Three precincts -- Southside, Eastgate and Downtown -- have either closed or will close by April 1. At the same time, Mayor Ron Littlefield has $125,000 in the current budget to begin design work on a new precinct at 11th and Baldwin streets across from the Community Kitchen.
"It'll be more than a precinct. It will be a community place," said Richard Beeland, the mayor's spokesman. "We need to have that precinct downtown."
Talk about the precinct location has bubbled up since the city bought the former Farmer's Market property in 2006. The market was located near 11th and Baldwin.
Mr. Beeland said no plans for the precinct have been drawn, but the idea is to use the site as a community meeting place, a launch location for police bicycle patrols and a precinct for the highly populated downtown area, the site of festivals and events that attract anywhere from hundreds to thousands of people.
Chattanooga Police Chief Freeman Cooper said closing the existing satellite precincts would save the police department about $30,000 annually. But closing the precincts will not affect response times or patrols, he said.
Chattanooga City Councilwoman Pam Ladd, chairwoman of the council's Public Safety Committee, said that, while some residents may not agree, the decision to close the precincts is a "better way to handle things."
"It makes sense to consolidate and that's what you're doing, making a consolidation," she said.
Some community leaders said they see reasons for the closings and consolidations but are concerned about their neighborhoods being left behind.
"I'm glad they're placing it (the new precinct) in that area, but I also think our communities need satellite offices," said Lora Salter, president of the East Lake Neighborhood Association.
She said she's more worried about staffing levels and said that, with only five police officers covering the entire zone from McCallie Avenue to the state line and up to the cut in Missionary Ridge, there is little time for officers to do anything but answer calls.
"There's kids in our community where the only time they see a police officer is when they're called to the home," she said.
Cynthia Stanley-Cash, who heads the North Brainerd Neighborhood Association, said she and her fellow residents worked to get a satellite precinct in their area and eventually reached a compromise with the Eastgate location, which is now closed.
The new precinct is "a wonderful idea for that immediate area, for the community in downtown," she said. "But I still think that communities need a precinct closer to the neighborhoods where constant, daily crime occurs."