Community members give feedback as Norcross pitches new $20M police headquarters

NORCROSS, Ga. — A new $20 million police headquarters is on the table in the city of Norcross.

City leaders say they’re being as transparent as possible amid recent destructive protests in Atlanta over a new police training facility there.

“It’s important to help people understand that our police departments are there to provide a service, not as overseers of their privacy,” Norcross Mayor Craig Newton said during a community town hall on Thursday with the public about the need for a new building.

Residents shared concerns about the location, cost, and at times, the need for a larger headquarters.

Channel 2′s Matt Johnson spoke to one man who said he had questions.

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“I think they could use it on something else that could benefit the community a little bit better. I don’t know what, but a bigger police department? I don’t know if that’s the best use of $20 million” Gwinnett County resident Nick Pope said.

“We wanted to get the input from our public before we invested a lot of money and design drawings and making things happen that the public didn’t want,” Newton told Johnson.

The proposed 33,000-square-foot facility would take the place of an old library on Buford Highway.

City leaders say the police department has outgrown its current facility and needs several new things, including more training space.

“This new building will help us to enhance the community policing efforts that we’ve conducted for many, many years,” Newton said.

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