Police Department Renovation Ready This Month

Officials say the multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation to the Bolingbrook Police Department Headquarters should be completed by the end of the month.

The $12 million expansion project, which will add 25,000-square feet to the police headquarters inside the west wing of Village Hall, is expected to cut down on communications gaps between village and DuPage County police squads and make the department more efficient.

"The technology won't be that much more superb (than what we have now), but I think the (improved) efficiency will be the big thing that we get out of this," said Bolingbrook Police Lieutenant Mike Rompa. "We will be able to more directly communicate with Will County and other surrounding departments, so those communication gaps will be closed."

The renovation will also add new locker rooms, office space, booking department, jail, evidence processing, evidence storage, training center and 911 Center.

Bolingbrook Police Chief Kevin McCarthy said many of the new amenities were desperately needed.

"We had completely run out of locker space for officers," he said. "The new locker rooms will have enough locker space to accommodate the 113 officers we currently have. The locker room will also have enough lockers and space to accommodate the amount of officers the village would need should it reach its maximum population."

The new 911 Center, which utilizes the Will County Emergency Telephone System Board, will allow the village to receive and dispatch village 911 calls from any Will County 911 Center such as Romeoville, Plainfield and the Will County Sheriff Department in case of an emergency.

That move also saved the village as much as $300,000 – money it would had spent on building and maintaining a backup 911 Center.