New community police site to open

BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle

The community policing and SCAT teams covering west Wichita have a new home, and they will show it off to the public today.

A reception at the Patrol West Bureau's new quarters for SCAT — Special Community Action Team — and community policing will be from 4 to 6 p.m. at 5803 W. Central, just west of Central and I-235.

The new location replaces a smaller office that was in the Plaza West shopping center at Central and West St.

The new site allows SCAT and community policing officers to share office space for the first time, Lt. Lori Marceau said.

"We can sit down and discuss problems and work out who's going to do what," Marceau said. "It makes it a lot easier."

The move also frees up space at the badly overcrowded Patrol West substation just a couple of blocks to the east, she said.

The new location is more visible for the public and has easy access to I-235 and points west.

That's important, Marceau said, when emergencies occur.

Reach Stan Finger at 316-268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com.