Shreveport Council Plays Hard Ball with Mayor Over SPD HQ

SHREVEPORT, LA - The Shreveport City Council is taking a hard line approach with the Mayor to try to get him to take more definitive action to relocate police department employees from the SPD headquarters building at 1234 Texas Avenue.

The Council says they will not move on any of the bond proposals until something is done. Councilwoman Ursula Bowman says "we hold the purse strings."

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That building has some serious problems including mildew, leaks, rust, bathroom troubles, heating and a/c troubles and much more. There are more than 400 police department employees working out of that building and things continue to deteriorate.

3 Councilmembers wrote a letter to the Mayor urging him to declare an emergency and begin to find a new location for these workers. Mayor Tom Arceneaux tells KEEL News he has investigated and such a declaration does not give the city any extra resources.

Chief Smith told the Public Safety Committee many of the problems in the building are "not new, deterioration has been there for quite some time." But the Chief did say some of the problems are being fixed as quickly as maintenance staff can get to it.

How Soon Will Officers Move Out of the Building?

Chief Smith told the committee:

When the first substation gets done, which I am expecting within the next year, for the most part, that entire wing of the building will be cleared of people period. All on that wing which used to be the courts and is now the patrol division and the roll call room, the gymnasium, etc. All of them will be dispersed out into the field.

Councilwoman Tabitha Taylor says she toured the police headquarters and she saw deplorable conditions. She says she saw sand bags on the floor. She refused to go into the restroom because of the horrible conditions. She saw mildew or what looked like black mold on the ceiling tiles in the patrol area.

She has serious concerns about the public walking into this building everyday to conduct business. Taylor says this has been going on for too long and she wants a timeline for getting something done to get these employees out of that building.

As a way to force the Mayor's hand, the council voted unanimously to delay selling any bonds for the recently approved 88 million dollar bond package until the Mayor puts together a plan to get the employees out of this building.

The Council also turned down the Mayor's request to extend an emergency declaration at 3 apartment complexes while this battle over the SPD headquarters continues.