The Senatobia Police Department is ready to relocate to their new building at 114 North Center Street after almost two years of renovations.
The City closed on the property known as the former Entergy building on Sept. 11, 2020, at a price of $200,000 from Slocum Properties LLC and JT Delta Company LLC, which co-owned the site. The 7,050 square-foot building was constructed in 1968 and originally housed Mississippi Power & Light before the company changed its name to Entergy in 1989.
The building will provide more than double the space SPD currently occupies in a building shared with Senatobia Municipal Court on Front Street.
Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler said the space will allow new opportunities for the department to function more efficiently.
“It will definitely provide a more secure facility and give us additional space to better serve the community,” he explained. “We won’t be right on top of each other like we are now and walking past file cabinets in the hallway.”
Additionally, Chandler said the building will have a room which can be used for multiple training opportunities.
“We well be able to host trainings here instead of having to send our officers to other locations,” said Chandler. “When officers travel to train, you end up paying for the class itself, the hotel, the gas, meals, and incidentals. Additionally, you must deal with the fact that your officer is out of town. In the event something major happens, and they would need to travel back, it makes it an uneasy situation. Being able to host the trainings here will benefit the department in multiple ways.”
Chandler said some training events may even include the opportunity to use virtual reality devices to feature real world scenarios.
Renovations on the building have included a new roof, new partition walls, electrical work, plumbing, a new HVAC unit and cosmetic work. In addition, the new facility will feature automatic gates and automatic doors to allow officers to focus more on safety both for themselves and individuals in custody.
Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves said the city looks forward to completed renovations.
“The city looks forward to the police department moving to their newly renovated building with much more space and more advanced technology capabilities. We are thankful to Chief Chandler for spearheading this effort,” said Graves.
The move to the new building is slated to begin sometime between mid-June and early July.
