City of Methuen Master Plan

Methuen Master Plan 2007
5) The Health Department and Conservation office occupies two areas on the upper level of the
Quinn Building. The IT Department maintains a server in an office outside of the Building
Inspectors area. The City Nurse has an office located outside of Sanborn Hall.
Over the last five years the number of calls handled by the Police Department has increased, although
there was a drop in total calls from 2004 to 2005. Total calls and calls by major categories are shown on
Table 47.
Table 47: Police Calls by Major Type 2001-2005
Type of Major Calls 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Crime Related 3,297 3,003 2,970 2,370 2,831
Medical 2,490 2,332 2,312 2,198 2,598
Alarms 3,073 2,948 2,482 2,457 2,208
911 Call Related 2,315 2,669 2,363 2,074 2,034
Motor Vehicle Accident 1,698 1,802 1,899 1,578 1,753
Total Major Calls 12,873 2,754 2,026 10,677 11,424
Total All Police Calls 30,663 30,755 35,515 52,634 44,713
The Police Department conducts special programs such as drug education and community outreach.
The Department conducts several crime watch meetings throughout the City on a regular basis as well
as having several public safety tables or booths at various events. The officers assigned to the schools
also teach drug and alcohol awareness programs along with other safety programs such as winter safety,
gun safety and how to handle dealing with strangers at the appropriate age levels.
The Police Department is extremely overcrowded in its assigned space. The
FUTURE
Department should have at least twice the square footage it has now. The
PLANS/NEEDS Quinn Building is extremely outdated, for example there are not enough phone
and computer lines to set up needed equipment. The lower level North Wing contains the Detective
Division as well as the IT and Support Services Division and the Court and Licensing, all in small
spaces. In addition the space is not efficient. The Detectives occupy two areas with the supervision in a
separate office from the investigators. These two areas should be joined together. The Evidence area
comes under Support Services. The Evidence room is both upstairs in a safe in the IT area and
downstairs in the basement area. This is not conducive to good security or continuity. Evidence is also
stored in the Court Supervisors safe. The locker rooms are spread over two floors as well as in hallways.
Security could be jeopardized with the number of doors into and out of the building as well as the
condition of the doors. Bathrooms are small and in desperate need of renovations. There is still
asbestos in the building though tests have been done on the air, the asbestos is still in view and could
possibly become compromised. In general the Quinn building is in need of extensive renovations and
repairs, such as the windows, roof. The Neighborhood Services Bureau (NSB) on the second floor was
the computer crimes unit and drug officers work space needs phone and computer lines installed. The
roll call room needs updating. There is also a need for an interrogation room with audio and video
capability as well as the other items noted. Any large meeting the Department holds, such as full staff
meetings and community meetings must be held in another building such as the Nevins Library. The
roof has sprung several leaks over the past and the ceilings in the North Wing area are made of metal
and continually fall down. The air-conditioning and heating systems are inadequate and make it nearly
impossible to keep a consistent temperature in the building.
Page 100