Ribbon cutting, open house held to showcase Mason City Police Department remodeling project

MASON CITY — A ribbon cutting ceremony was held this morning to commemorate the renovation project at the Mason City Police Department. The facility at 78 South Georgia opened in 1978 with a $1.8 million renovation to the building being recently completed.

Police Chief Jeff Brinkley says besides things like updating the infrastructure inside the building, the project remodeled several spaces to make it more functional for modern policing operations. That included things like the locker room and training space.  “Our original locker room wasn’t built to have female officers, and the lockers were a little bit bigger than you and I probably had in school, like you couldn’t fit a uniform shirt in there on the hanger and have it not be wrinkled and not look nice. We’ve had a lot of change. There’s a lot of focus on officer safety and wellness, and so we try to incorporate a lot of that as we made the improvements and trying to give our staff a building they can be proud of and be comfortable with.”

Brinkley says he believes the improvements to the building will also help when it comes to retaining current officers as well as attracting new officers.  “I think for new employees walking in or prospective employees walking in, there’s going ‘wow, I haven’t seen this at all the other places I’ve applied or the places I’ve thought about working’. So I think it’s a real commitment to us for them and their long-term well being to say we’re here, we care about you, and we want you to be comfortable.”

The project started in November 2023 with the final items currently being completed. Significant funding for the project came from Local Option Sales and Services Tax revenues. 

Brinkley made his comments during the recording of the “Ask the Mayor” podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here