Selah Police officers hosted an open house Thursday at the new Selah Police Department at 617 South First Street.

Lt. Stacy Dwarshuis, chief administrator of the department, said the new facility is more accessible to the community.

“People know where to find us,” he said.

The former facility, now the home of Selah Public Works, at 113 South Second Street was harder to find, he said. That building is now the home of Selah Public Works.

“When we moved into that old building in 1991, we thought it was a palace,” Dwarshuis said.

 “Within a year we already felt crowded,” he said. “Once we got into the other facility, while it was more spacious than our previous facility (113 W. Naches) it still wasn’t what we needed.

The new building is more spacious, including a meeting, training room unavailable at the previous site.

Besides more space, better equipment and bigger work stations, officers now have access to a full kitchen and showers are available.

The building was equipped with a new fiber-optic communications system, which permits transmission of data over longer distances and at higher data rates than other forms of communications. The new system ties directly into the City of Yakima and state and national databases.

The total cost associated with the relocation of the police station was $506,412, according to City Clerk
Treasurer, Dale Novobielski.  This excludes the annual payment, of approximately $51,000 the city pays to the property owner for rental and property taxes.

The $506,412 consists of the following costs: building remodel was $260,065, equipment was $139,391 and a new fiber optic communications system was $106,956.  The fiber optic system was installed with an $85,472 Homeland Security Grant, and $22,000 from the City of Selah.

Equipment included a new surveillance system for $7,500.

Remodeling also included a more secure dispatch center, with ballistic material in the glass and walls.

“So if you started shooting at Jack, you won’t hit him,” Dwarshuis said, referring to Office Manager, Jack O’Dell.

O’Dell served in the Army and was in retail before deciding to go into law enforcement. Six years ago he was hired with no experience. But over a couple of months he began to learn the ropes­­ of what makes the Selah Police Department run efficiently.

“I took a couple of courses, I talked to everyone in the business, and I absorb information quickly,” he said.

Now he is the official gatekeeper for the Selah Police Department, doing everything from fingerprinting to data entry.

O’Dell provides customer service for people who want a dog tag or a concealed weapons permit. He does background checks, warrant entries, protection orders, pays the bills, keeps the time cards, and is responsible for what goes into the state and national databases.

And that’s just the start. He works a nine-hour day, and when he wants a day off, the police department has to bring in someone who knows O’Dell’s job. He didn’t get his nickname, “Jack of all trades,” for no reason, Dwarshuis said.

O’Dell used to be the primary dispatcher for the City of Selah.

“I might get on a domestic violence call for a couple of hours,” he said. “Then I wouldn’t get any of my other work done.”

The city now has a $41,000-a-year contract with 911 to provide 24-hour-a-day service, eliminating the need for the second full-time position.

Dwarshuis said the department now uses a temporary person to fill for  O’Dell when he is gone.

“When we made the change to 911, they were going to charge $35,000 to dispatch from 6 p.m. until morning,”
Dwarshuis said.

“But for an additional $6,200 they will handle calls 24/7,” he said. “Obviously we are saving money by alleviating the full-time position plus employee benefits.”

O’Dell still answers calls, however. If a City of Selah resident calls the Selah Police Department business office with a complaint about a barking dog, a prowler in mid-day, or a crowd of kids where they shouldn’t be, O’Dell
can still send an officer to check it out.