OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The fastest growing parts of Omaha will now have a more convenient place to utilize when it comes to public safety.
The Omaha Police Department's 5th Precinct opens to the public at 206 & Cumberland Dr.
The $8 million facility helps with more space because the force has grown to 902 officers, the most ever in the metro. They'll house Uniformed Patrol, the Traffic Division, and the Emergency Response Unit.
The precinct captain says creating a footprint was key.
"That was the goal of this was to improve response times and have a visual presence in west Omaha and give the citizens of west Omaha what they need and what they deserve as far as law enforcement patrol and police operations," said OPD Capt. Mark Desler.
It includes a community meeting area, gym, space for the traffic unit, plus all the tools they need.
The E.R.U. says they had equipment stored all over the city and had to shuffle vehicles around to get them out of their Millard garage. The unit responds to bomb threats, and hostage situations among other incidents.
"This has just been tremendous to get all of our equipment in one place and to be able to respond from the same location without having equipment all over the city," said E.R.U. Lt. Jay Leavitt.
The West Precinct divides Omaha into 5 precincts. Their boundaries are almost every area inside the city limits west of Interstate 680.
