DAYTON — News Center 7 got a first look at the new temporary downtown police substation in the hope of keeping more people safe downtown.
A new permanent substation will be built on the location of an old diner near the Oregon District. The temporary substation, which Dayton PD will rent, will overlook the RTA hub.
The new temporary space is almost finished and will have room for roll call areas, officer report cubicles, sergeant offices, and meeting and conference rooms. Meanwhile, the upper floor looks over the RTA bus transfer hub.
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Major Brian Johns said, “You look at the crime numbers. It’s a very safe area of the city and the state. So, it’s our goal to make it the safest downtown in the state of Ohio.”
The department is moving to 24/7 officer coverage of the downtown area. They will have a detective assigned to only downtown cases.
The permanent downtown police substation will be near St. Clair and East Fourth Street.
This location may be two to three years from opening, but it’s only a block away from the temporary location on Main Street.
Sam Mil helps run the Downtown Shoppe, a store that will be next door to the temporary substation when it opens.
“We do love that. We have a lot of customers counting on that too, and we count on our safety and our customers’ safety,” Mil said.
The temporary police substation is expected to open around March 1. Police said they have been focused a lot and will work with other downtown safety initiatives too, like the one launched by Rep. Mike Turner earlier this week...
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