- Last week, 23ABC spoke with Shafter Police Captain Kevin Zimmerman about staffing the new Shafter Police Department Substation, after speaking with Shafter City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez, we now have a clearer picture of what will be at the facility and where it will be.
- Per Gonzalez, the Shafter Police substation has finished the conceptual process, is nearing the design process and will hopefully be constructed by the end of 2024. According to the proposal shared to 23ABC by the City of Shafter, the building will include the substation, some city services, and an extension of the Shafter Library.
Right now, Gonzalez says the department is in the process of filling vacancies within the department and hopes to have staff in place to work at the substation following the ceremonial ribbon cutting. Currently, Shafter Police does have officers from the main police station patrolling the Gossamer Grove area.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Sam Hoyle, your Shafter neighborhood news reporter. If you were watching last week, you likely saw our update in regards to the substations for Shafter Police and Kern County Fire Departments near Gossamer Grove. Now, after talking with Shafter's city manager Gabriel Gonzalez, we have a finer picture as to where those substations are set to be. Gonzalez noted that the substation is going to be on the north side of Seventh Standard Road and on the west side of Gossamer Grove lane. In terms of the Shafter Police Department, they have finished the conceptual phase of the design portion of this building and they are moving into the actual design phase. They're hoping to bid that out in the coming days and have the building constructed by the end of 2024. Now for gonzalez, it's not a question about when that building is going to be constructed, it's about when they're going to be able to staff it full time.
"Once the facility is completed, is to staff it. Now it's very unlikely we're going to be able to staff it, 24/7, 365 right off the bat, but the goal is to at least put a team out there to start patrolling on a regular basis," said Gonzalez.
As the City of Shafter is narrowing in on the next step of the process. Costs associated with the project come to mind and Gonzalez says that Shafter residents will not be seeing a bump on their taxes in the future to pay for the project.
“We were successful in securing a six million dollar state appropriation dedicated for the police station and future fire station for Gossamer Grove. So, tax payers' money? Yes, but it’s through the state of California through the state legislative budget process that we were successfully able to secure six million dollars,” said Gonzalez.
The city of Shafter released their proposal on the project to 23ABC earlier today and if you look a little bit closer to that proposal, you’ll see other city services as well as an expansion of the Shafter library. All of those details aren't available just yet as the city is still early on in it's process with that. We will update this story as we receive more information.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
