Old pipes. Broken air conditioners. Offices in closets.

These are the challenges Merced police officers face day in and day out while working from an aging headquarters the department has outgrown.

Staffing at the police department is the best it’s been in years, Chief Steven Stanfield told The FOCUS. But now, the Merced Police Department’s outdated building is busting at the seams as personnel grows and leadership aspires to expand further, he explained.

The city does not have the money to build a new police station, local officials acknowledge. Stanfield estimates a new police station would cost $50 million. Funding will determine when a new station can be built — resources the city is actively searching for, City Manager Scott McBride said.

No suitable building has been identified for a new station, though the city previously eyed the former Merced Sun-Star building, which was demolished earlier this year. Instead, the department has pivoted to renting additional facilities and renovating the 60-year-old headquarters multiple times.

Meanwhile, the police force continues responding to more calls for service as the city and its population grows. Merced, which has a population of more than 90,000 people, has consistently ranked as one of California’s fastest-growing cities, according to the state’s Department of Finance.

“I want to try to grow our growth at the police department at the pace that we’re growing our city, but I also have to be very cautious, because I don’t have any more room for anybody,” Stanfield said.

Police HQ Has Limited Technology, Old Infrastructure

The current headquarters poses issues for safety, health and departmental efficiency, according to Stanfield.

When Stanfield first joined the Merced Police Department in 2023, there were 15 vacancies. There were four vacancies at the beginning of October this year. Staff at the police department includes 98 sworn officers and over 40 non sworn personnel, plus part-time staff.

In total, about 150 people work for the police department. Staff work in different buildings, though many filter through the headquarters on a daily basis.

Since 1959, the headquarters at 611 W. 22nd Street has been the police department’s home. In 1981, the station expanded, McBride said.

The department rents two office facilities elsewhere in the city to accommodate space constraints.

These buildings include Joe Cortez Station (previously called the South Station) and a downtown office space. The department also uses an evidence and records facility, plus a shooting range outside of city limits.

Patrol officers work from the headquarters, except for when they are out in the field. Some of the parking enforcement, code enforcement and the records division work happens out of the Joe Cortez Station, Stanfield said. The rest of code enforcement and the gang unit works out of the downtown station.

“It’s really hard to manage and supervise effectively when you don’t have proximity to people,” Stanfield said.

Officers come to the police headquarters to book evidence, take reports and conduct interviews. The station has one interview room for suspects.

So far, the department has already converted some closets into office space. One office was converted into an interview room for domestic violence victims. This room is separate from the interview room for suspects. Another closet was transformed into a copier room.

Limited space has also posed space and electrical concerns, leading to creative renovations.

“It’s kind of like trying to fix up an old car. Sure, you can, you can change it around, but you’re not going to get the technology that you have in today’s cars,” said Capt. Dan Dabney, who’s worked for the department for 26 years.

The wiring that runs through the building, including servers for dispatch, are all in one electrical server closet. The department also builds city cameras here.

The circuit panel at the headquarters is full. Without enough charger ports, the department cannot expand the number of electric vehicles used.

Real-Time Information Center

The dispatch center used to be downstairs, where the current Real-Time Information Center is located. The electrical wiring runs through the floor – which was raised — since there’s no space above.

“We’re stringing wires together with baling wire to try to make things work,” Stanfield said. “Because the technology is not built into a center like this, we’re barely making it work.”

Despite these modifications, the expanded dispatch center and Real-Time Information Center are too small, Dabney said.

When Dabney transformed the old dispatch center into the Real-Time Information Center in 2023, a breaker popped and shut down the dispatch center temporarily.

“You would not think that something downstairs would affect something as critical as our infrastructure and dispatch, our 911 system,” Dabney said.

Old Plumbing and Pipes, Air Conditioning System

The building’s pipes are old, meaning staff use quickly-dissolving toilet paper that doesn’t clog the pipes.

Often, the air conditioning breaks and requires repairs. Stanfield sent home an employee one day when the office temperature rose to 85 degrees.

He suspects there is asbestos in the building.

Stanfield remembers watching soot pour from his office vents in December 2024. Two blocks away, the former Merced County library was ablaze.

Aside from maintenance concerns, Stanfield worries the building is not fully secure. The main lobby near the records division has glass windows. So does the officer’s break room.

“We’ve had chairs thrown through the break room window because it is exposed to the road,” Stanfield said.

New Station Could Bring Tech, Wellness Upgrades

A new station would allow greater space for new staff, a new parking lot, technology upgrades, and wellness upgrades.

“I want it to be the best for the community. I live in Merced, and so I want the best for everybody, in that sense, a one-stop shop that includes all of your resources in one place,” Dabney said.

Stanfield hopes to find space for social advocacy outreach workers who can respond to cases involving people who are unhoused or are in a mental health crisis. He’d also like to add more Community Service Officers handling patrol calls.

He also envisions space on site to process evidence and a fitness center for officers to go to after their shift.

Finding a suitable location for a new headquarters has proven difficult, and it’s unclear where the new police headquarters would be located. Stanfield hopes the new headquarters will be centrally located in Merced — and more welcoming for community members.

“I want the police department to be welcoming,” Stanfield said. “I don’t want it to be a place that’s weird. I don’t want (it) to have this creepy look. I want it to be somewhere where people want to go into the police department and feel like they could feel comfortable and safe and inviting and things like that.”

City Council First Studied New Station in 2007

The city council first identified a need for a new police station in 2007, according to McBride.

In 2010, the city purchased a property north of Yosemite Ave. Then in 2017, the city purchased the Sun-Star building on G Street near Olive Avenue for a potential new home for the headquarters before it burned down.

But the location didn’t have a left turn lane, and it was contaminated with asbestos, which made the property unsuitable for a new police station, Stanfield said.

With a new station, police could use current rental space for other purposes. Stanfield said the Joe Cortez Station could serve as a community building instead, where people get records and file reports with a digital attendant.

New Public Safety Facilities in Merced County

Other agencies have found solutions to building new public safety facilities.

The Los Banos Police Department celebrated the opening of a new station in 2023. Measure P helped provide funding to the station. In Fresno, the city council approved a 21-year lease with River Park Properties III in August this year.

Construction of a new jail in Merced County began in 2023 and is ongoing. The project was funded by the county and the Board of State and Community Corrections.

Merced Continues to Grow

The city is updating its General Plan to determine growth needs and land usage in the following decades.

Besides a new police headquarters, additional needs include upgrades to the zoo, airport, Civic Center, Senior Center, McCombs Youth Center, parks, and future fire stations, McBride wrote in an email to The FOCUS.

The city is currently evaluating potential sites for a new fire station as well, McBride said. In November 2023, Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria was able to obtain $4 million in grants for the Merced Fire Department to fund the project.

Dozens of community members attended a public review on Oct. 23 to provide input on the drafted General Plan. The citizen advisory focus group will meet on Nov. 10 and provide feedback on the plan and results of the public review.

Stanfield said Merced police and the department’s civilian staff remain committed to improving safety despite the challenges posed by the current facilities.

“If we don’t get a new police department (building), we’re not stopping,” Stanfield said. “We’re still going to reduce crime. We’re still going to try to improve this community. This police department (building) does not dictate the service that we want to provide.”

About the Author

Elizabeth Wilson is the public safety reporter for The Merced FOCUS.