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New Mesa police crime lab nears completion
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ALL NEW: Mesa forensic services administrator Deb Rector and Cmdr. Bill Peters are shown in the new drying room, where evidence will be dried before being stored inside the new forensic services building.
Builders are putting the finishing touches on Mesa’s long-awaited new Police Forensic Services Section, and in about two weeks its staff will begin moving in.
The 46,000-square-foot building — near police headquarters — will house the city’s new crime lab, a resource that not only will help Mesa investigators solve crimes more quickly, but also aid other local law enforcement agencies.
“We still have to do a final walk-through,” police Cmdr. Bill Peters said. “The cubicles are all built in there.”
The building was funded by public safety bonds approved in 2004 and the quality-of-life tax. The City Council decided in May 2007 to approve nearly $18.5 million in construction costs.
In the current building, which is only 15,000 square feet, employees are crammed into storage closets converted into work space and records are stashed anywhere they’ll fit.
The new lab is “just so much more room,” said Detective Steve Berry, Mesa police spokesman.
“We’ve simply outgrown the space we have,” Berry said. “People will be able to get their work done much more efficiently.”
Employees will begin moving into the new building during the first week of September, Peters said. The move will occur in phases so as not to disturb any of the fragile equipment used in investigating crimes and to make sure that the crime lab can still operate as usual.
Peters said officials have held weekly meetings over the past couple of months to make sure the facility opens on time.
“Anytime you have construction you’re going to encounter problems,” Peters said. “They are usually surmountable.”
Once employees of the forensic services section get settled into their new work space, Mesa police plan to hold a grand opening for the public from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 23, Peters said.
The event will have a mock shooting scene in which the public can watch crime scene technicians gather evidence. The public will then move to other parts of the building to watch investigators process evidence in various sections of the crime lab that deal with DNA, firearms, controlled substances and toxicology.
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