Police training methods are consistently making headlines nationally, and law enforcement methods across the country are being carefully scrutinized. Alongside these enforcement method critiques is an opportunity for architects and interior designers to think about how police academies can be reshaped to better serve their users.
Global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will, behind such projects as the New York Police Academy, the Toronto Police Service Training Facility and the Los Angeles Rampart Station, is busy positioning itself as a global authority on the underlying issues within law enforcement facilities, as well as best practices for these spaces.
Janice Barnes, Ph.D., of Perkins+Will, recently coauthored the white paper, “21st Century Training: Planning Principles.”
“A wave of big thinking is now reshaping how police learn and work,” said Ms. Barnes, in the report. “Everything from open plan workplaces and GPS applications to social media use and predictive policing are being brought in to help improve public trust and increase public safety. Plus, we see many creative approaches, such as innovative community partnerships, cross-service collaborations, and programs to share experience from retired officers.”
In the report, Ms. Barnes highlights several fundamental best practices in the planning and design of spaces for law enforcement officials and the administrative and support staff that work in these facilities. The following planning principles are informing the work of designers and architects working in law enforcement facilities and supporting fields.
As always, excellent architecture and interior design begin with a keen understanding of the requirements, both special and universal, of the users. Police departments present perhaps more special requirements than most commercial projects. We commend Perkins+Will for making its research available to the wider design community.
>Workplace Innovation. “Like users in any work or study environment, police officers now expect more mobile and activity-based work,” according to the Perkins+Will report. New facilities should have a collaborative structure for teaming, often with a joint collaboration space that looks like an open office. “Much like project rooms in any industry, police use these immersive environments to tackle more complex problems while maintaining visual presence of the work,” said Ms. Barnes.
>Technology Adoption. “Increased use of body-mounted cameras, tablet computers, drones, acoustical technologies and new protective gear all are complicating the requirements for training facilities, police stations and vehicles,” said Ms. Barnes. “Pervasive technologies enable quick data access, more interconnected problem-solving, and improved awareness of the relationships between various efforts. These technologies in turn require new ways of thinking about space provisioning, power/data as well as the training necessary in order to best leverage their value.”
>Stress Reduction. The effects of increasing stress on police officers can have a critical, life-changing impact on those officers and the communities they serve – in a way that most “civilian” office positions rarely encounter. Given the heightened degree of stress officers often carry, there is an increased need for their workplaces to provide stress relief.
“Physical training – such as cardio, cross-fit, rope climbing, and mat work – not only improves on-the-job skills but also provides much needed stress relief,” said Leigh Christy, associate principal at Perkins+Will. Informal interior gathering spaces such as lounges and kitchens, along with exterior areas of respite, such as gardens, patios, balconies and terraces, can improve the quality of life for staff as well as officers.
“The main thing that constantly gets overlooked is thinking about these spaces as true workplaces, in addition to their public agency functions,” said Ms. Christy. “For many of these specialty functions and buildings, we need to remember that this is someone’s workplace, and that they’re spending a lot of time there. We want to make sure we’re creating healthy spaces for people to be in.”
>Sharing Best Practices. Police forces across the country and the world are operating on an increasingly connected basis. “Policing culture is very collaborative, leveraging knowledge to build capabilities faster, to do more with streamlined budgets and to integrate continuous improvement,” said Ms. Barnes.
>Community Policing. A strategy of fundamentally advancing the relationship between officers and the communities they serve is being implemented to great success across the nation, producing “new facilities remarkably different in their look and feel,” said Nick Seierup, FAIA, design director of Perkins+Will’s Los Angeles office, in the Perkins+Will report. “Next-generation police stations are visually transparent, open and inviting. They welcome the community within – all while still providing invisibly, the requisite security needed for officers.”
>Improved Efficiencies. Tight budgets and resource shortcomings mean that more police forces are adopting strategies to spur innovations, boost productivity and reduce obstacles to effective enforcement. “These include collaboration with local universities for ongoing training, collaboration across governmental agencies to advance strategies, community-building to increase public participation in safe streets programs and reevaluation of deployment strategies to better align responses to activities,” said Ms. Barnes in the report. “These efforts are complemented by greater operational efficiencies, such as investments to reduce energy and water, in order to reduce the cost of maintaining facilities over time.”
As an example of this best practice put to the test, Ms. Christy highlighted the increasing numbers of women in law enforcement roles. “To plan for the increasing number of women employees in these facilities in the future, we’re implementing movable walls into the women’s locker rooms, so it won’t be difficult to expand those facilities,” said Ms. Christy.
Ms. Christy also pointed to the special requirements for many of the functions of specialized spaces in police stations and academies. “Things like hazardous materials and explosives need to be planned for in some spaces,” said Ms. Christy. “Programmatically, we try to cluster those spaces together to help regulate temperature and other energy efficiencies.”
On the Street. “Police chiefs want patrol personnel on the street instead of in the building,” said Phil Callison AIA, regional practice leader of Perkins+Will’s Dallas office, in the Perkins+Will report. “We spend a great deal of time observing daily flow of personnel especially at shift changes, the busiest time in a police station.” Daily tasks and spaces such as personnel parking, patrol car drop-off, fitness room, locker rooms, the briefing room, equipment checkout areas, mailroom, report writing area and breakrooms, must be carefully organized to achieve the highest/optimal level of flow. The more seamlessly precincts can handle shift changes, the faster patrol officers can get on the street. Mr. Callison suggested introducing opportunities for social interaction along the way, such as creating a police “Main Street”, that not only helps processes become more efficient, but also creates a more enjoyable, fulfilling work experience for police personnel.