Barracks Row Main Street has started a petition to establish a Metropolitan Police Department ‘Pop-Up Community Substation’ on the 400 block of Eighth St. SE.
“We value our partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department, in particular the consistent support shown by Commander Morgan Kane,” said a BRMS spokesperson. “We want to continue and strengthen this partnership by encouraging the Metropolitan Police Department to open a new “Pop-Up Community Substation.”
BRMS said that a similar concept was tried in the North Temple area of Salt Lake City last summer. In a report published last July, a spokesman from the Salt Lake City Police officer told KUER Radio, the Utah NPR affiliate, that having more officers present helps them take ownership of the area and respond to incidents more readily.
BRMS announced the concept at the Tuesday meeting of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6B Working Group on Barracks Row, attended by community members and businesses.
“Unanimously, all the businesses that were there said that it was a good idea,” said Commissioner Brian Ready (6B03), Co-Chair of the working group. “Ultimately, I’m in support of whatever the businesses think will help improve that area.”
Both BRMS and Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6B have noted an uptick in safety and security issues on this specific block of Eighth Street SE. BRMS said there are several vacant storefronts on this block that could be ideal choices for a small “Community Substation” either on a short term or permanent basis.
The petition is addressed to Councilmember Charles Allen (ward 6-D) and requests that he work to allocate funding for a pilot substation in the FY2020 District budget.
Read the text of the petition and sign your name on the new Barracks Row Main Street website at www.barracksrow.org/mpd-community-substation
