Timnath police open brand new police department following "explosion" in population
The growing Town of Timnath has opened a new state-of-the-art police department off Harmony Road after a flood of new residents resulted in a need for a full-time police agency. Residents have been asking for the department to expand their services, and a new facility was one of the only ways to assure that could be done.
"Timnath has exploded, in terms of growth," said Terry Jones, Chief of Police in Timnath.
The new police department is larger than what the department currently needs, but is built with growth expected in the future.
In 2010 only around 600 people lived in Timnath. Today, nearly 7,000 people have moved into the town which is located just east of Fort Collins.
"We are expecting 1,000 (new residents) a year for the next four years," said Mark Soukup, Mayor of Timnath.
"It is a growing community, and one of the demands of the community was they wanted a full-time police department and 24/7 coverage," Jones said.
The new department now has many features that the previous facility did not, including holding cells and different styles of interview rooms. The new department also includes proper ventilation systems which assure fumes in evidence rooms which handle narcotics are not circulated into other parts of the facility as the old building does.
The facility cost more than $13 million to build. Mayor Soukup said one of the most prideful moments of building the new department came with the town's ability to complete the project without having to take out financial aid.
"We paid it totally with our own funds. We did not use any borrowings and no debt," Soukup said.
"This facility is amazing compared to where we are at," Jones said.
