By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
James Cell has been working as the City of Great Bend’s Network
Administrator for more than four years, and he said the new police station will
become his biggest project since he started.
Construction is underway at the intersection of 12th Street and
Baker Avenue for the nearly $8.9 million police station that will replace the
current facility on Williams Street that was built in 1938.
Cell is excited about the new technology that will be installed at the new police
station, including servers and network switches. Cell said there will be fiber
internet at the new facility, but staff is working on the Interpol program
between the police station and Barton County Sheriff’s Office. Interpol
provides investigative support and secure communications between law
enforcement agencies.
"We currently connected with our location to the Sheriff's department," said Cell. "When we move, we have to decide if it's worth running another fiber line between the new location and where we're currently at or if it will be cheaper to do an Interpol server in-house."
The 20,100 square-foot police station will include badge readers. The door lock system requires an access code or a badge to enter. Cell said his goal is to get the entire
city set up for badge readers in the next few years.
"If we decided a person doesn't need to get in, we turn off their access," said Cell. "You can give temporary access and guest access. It's easier to manage. You don't have to worry about having a certain key to get into different buildings."
The new police station is expected to be completed next August.