This building has been designed not only for our community’s present size and needs but for the future with a state-of-the-art communication system, community room, crime lab, and property and evidence rooms.”

Police Chief Thomas Lee

PORTSMOUTH — Police Chief Thomas Lee said when he first interviewed for the job with former Town Administrator John Klimm six years ago, the manager asked him if he had ever been inside the police station.

“I told him that I hadn’t, and he said, ‘I hope you still want the job after you see the building,’” Chief Lee told dozens of people who came out to the official ribbon-cutting for the station Friday morning.

After his appointment, the new chief stepped inside the cramped, 5,000-square-foot building and decided that his primary goal should be pursuing the construction of a new building. 

The former station was built in the 1970s when the department had only 17 officers — all male — and responded to about 1,200 calls annually.

“Now, we have 36 police officers responding to over 28,000 calls for service a year,” Chief Lee said. “We had our six female officers changing in a small bathroom which we called a locker room. We were so cramped we had to store our evidence and property outside in construction trailers. We had no community room or other proper meeting or training space.”

That all changed when voters, in November 2016, approved a $10 million bond to build a modern, two-story facility more than 22,000 square feet in area. Ground was broken in October 2017.

The new station has been designed not only for the community’s present size and needs, “but for the future with a state-of-the-art communication system, community room, crime lab, and property and evidence rooms,” Chief Lee said. “In addition to the larger size of the building, our new facility contains a number of technological improvements over our old police building which will better help us to serve our residents in the future.”

The building, Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr. said, “was desperately needed.”

Although police have been working out of the building since March, the official ribbon-cutting wasn’t held until Friday to give contractors time to demolish the old building in front, clean up the area, install a parking lot and put in landscaping. 

Chief Lee, Mr. Rainer and Town Council President Kevin Aguiar — the latter cut the ribbon — all thanked voters for supporting the new building, along with elected officials, members of the public who served on an advisory committee, and the construction team.

“We’re dedicating this building to you, our residents,” said Chief Lee.

Chief Lee noted that the new building has a fitness center, the equipment for which was funded by the police union and the Portsmouth Business Association. He also thanked the initial Portsmouth Police Association citizen support committee led by Nanci Smith. 

Mr. Rainer let it drop that the ribbon-cutting came at an opportune time: Friday was Chief Lee’s birthday.

“I didn’t plan it this way,” the chief assured the cheering crowd.