The University of Central Florida Police Department invited the public to tour its new 35,000-square-foot home Friday.
More than 250 people attended the open house and toured the state-of-the-art facility, which opened in September. The new building allows all divisions of UCF Police, which includes nearly 100 employees, to be housed under the same roof.
The building’s features include wider hallways, multiple conference rooms, a room for fingerprinting and a secure parking lot for police vehicles. Interview rooms and three holding cells also allow officers to deal with arrestees more efficiently.
Officers are better able to communicate with each other, as well as field emergency phone calls, thanks to new radios and an upgraded dispatch communications center. In addition, surveillance cameras are placed throughout the building, allowing dispatch to monitor when officers might need extra assistance.
The additional space and high-tech features of the new building are a major improvement over the old one — a 7,000-square-foot space located next door on Libra Drive, officers said.
At the open house, photographs comparing what the same rooms and offices looked like in the old space were displayed in each room to give an even better idea of the improvements.
The building was also designed and constructed with sustainability in mind, and UCF Police is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, the widely accepted benchmark for buildings that are environmentally friendly.
To learn more about UCF Police, visit its website.