Search

Wilton police department BUILDING

Have you ever worked in an office that was built to accommodate half the number of employees who currently work there and has gone 47 years without the addition of any space or upgrades? That is the daily experience of the men and women of the Wilton Police Department. 

Located at 240 Danbury Road, behind Town Hall, the WPD headquarters is a cinder block building that was built in 1974 for an all male police force and one dispatcher. Today it must house male and female officers and civilian staff and a plethora of technology. Not an inch of space has been added and only minimal changes made to the building during the past 47 years. 

​The aged facility operates 24/7, 365 days a year, is extremely overcrowded, inefficient, non-compliant with multiple state and federal regulations and its maintenance and repair costs have escalated for years. The inadequate space for people, technology, equipment and evidence affects the WPD's day to day operations. The outdated, inadequate infrastructure affects safety, comfort and expenses.
The building's deficiencies presented in this 2012 ​WPD Facility Report were not remedied and ​have only gotten worse:
wpd_facility_report_2012.pdf
File Size: 614 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
Current deficiencies of the building include but are not limited to: 
Having met all codes and standards when built in 1974, the building is currently noncompliant with multiple state and federal requirements
The building does not...
  • have smoke alarms or sprinklers
  • accommodate the separation of non-criminal and criminal areas
  • accommodate interviewing multiple suspects at a time
  • accommodate processing and detaining juveniles away from adults by both sight and sound
  • comply with the ADA (Without an elevator the lower level is inaccessible to disabled members of the public and temporarily disabled employees. That floor houses the full lavatories, locker rooms, break room and the briefing room/meeting room/training room/Emergency Operations Center.)
Inadequate, faulty, mostly original infrastructure
  • Dangerous electrical issues have threatened building safety as well as police operations for several years. The system is insufficient for handling today’s technology, has overloaded electrical outlets throughout the building and inadequate space and temperature control for IT equipment.
  • The HVAC system is inefficient and inconsistent, breaking down a minimum of twice a year and can take days to repair. One part of the building is hot when another part is cold. Makeshift vent covers attempt to help control the temperature in some rooms while portable heaters are needed in others. The problem is compounded by the original windows that let in air during cold weather.
  • The fire protection system consists of heat sensors only--no smoke alarms or sprinklers. 
Severe overcrowding
  • Operations affected:
    • Non-criminal fingerprinting services takes place in the same area where criminals are booked and detained.
    • Detectives have insufficient space for  conducting interviews.
    • Senior Officers double up in offices intended for one person.
    • One Sergeant's workstation is located in a busy hallway.
    • Five Sergeants share one desk in the EOC/briefing room/training room/meeting room.
    • One Patrol Officer's workstation is located in the break room.
    • The interview room doubles as an IT/computer forensic investigation area, requiring frequent movement and relocation of its equipment and furniture.
    • The Emergency Operations Center also serves as the briefing room, meeting room and training room, requiring frequent movement and relocation of furniture and equipment.
    • The overcrowded Evidence Room necessitated the purchase of an outdoor trailer for evidence  storage. 
    • A storage closet doubles as an IT closet.
    • Hallways and stairways nooks are used for storage and work areas.
    • Because the garage must be used for storage it is routinely unavailable for vehicles.
  • Functional space lost:
    • The interview room has been converted to an office for 2 Lieutenants.
    • A portion of the briefing room/ meeting room/ training room/ Emergency Operations Center has been used to add one cubicle that is shared by 5 Sergeants.
    • A portion of the briefing room/ meeting room/ training room/ Emergency Operations Center has been used to add one workstation that is shared by 30 officers
    • The Dispatch Center, originally designed for 1 Dispatcher, was reduced in size several years ago to provide space for what is now the Records Room. Today up to 5 people at a time could be manning Dispatch.
    • A storage room has been converted to an office for 2 School Resource Officers.
    • A storage closet has been converted to a server room.
    • Hallways are used for storage.
Inadequate lavatories and locker rooms
  • There are no public lavatories.
  • Parts are no longer available for sinks and toilets in holding cells leaving some inoperable.
  • There are two men’s toilets for 40 men
  • The women's locker room was originally part of a hallway and a storage room. 
  • Locker rooms have limited ventilation.
  • Lockers, most installed in 1974, are too small to accommodate all of each officer’s equipment and uniforms.
Deficient firearms training facility & storage
  • The indoor shooting range is not functional because it does not meet OSHA standards and the repairs necessary for compliance do not make economic sense due to the condition of the rest of the building.
  • The shooting range's length does not meet distance requirements for officer certification.
  • The firearms storage room/closet is too small. and has insufficient shelving and cabinets.
How does the size of the staff
allow the WPD to provide the service
the community expects?
Because we live in a safe community it's easy to forget our officers operate 24/7/365, serving us in ways
we often take for granted or may not be aware of.  One of Chief John Lynch's staffing report to the BOS
is covered covered in the articles and video below,
explaining the WPD's functions and how its size
​ provides the overage, response times and level of service the community expects and receives.
Why Does Wilton Have So Many ​Police Officers?
​​Chief to BOS: WPD is Understaffed​
Staffing report to BOS (5:30-33:42)