The Sedona Police Department now has yet another resource in its proverbial toolbox to help assist the public.
A small group turned out on Thursday, Oct. 29, for the official ribbon cutting to open the new police center in Uptown at Sinagua Plaza. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, SPD Chief Charles Husted had been in talks with Al Spector, owner of the plaza, about opening a resource center in one of his units. Plans were put on hold during the height of the pandemic but now it’s become a reality.
“Our volunteers have stepped up to staff it but we’re still working on the schedule. We’re looking at three days a week and try to cover at least one weekend day per week,” Husted said to those in attendance. “The idea is to provide more resources for our community. There are plenty in the community who live and work in this area who can use this as a resource.”
Husted stressed that this center will not be a substitute for the Sedona Chamber of Commerce’s Visitor Center. Those requesting that type of visitor-related information will be directed to the visitor center.
“We want to provide the best service we can to Uptown — that’s the goal here,” Husted said. “I appreciate Al Spector and his team for making this happen. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without that help.”
The resource center will be staffed by nearly a dozen SPD volunteers. There, the volunteers can offer assistance on things from general information to found or lost property.
SPD had been given use, free of charge, of a small office on the side of Sedona Fire District’s Station 4 on Forest Road, also in Uptown. The city’s community service aides use that office for a variety of things including storage and a place to take breaks. Husted said since SFD is in the process of possibly building a new station at that location, he felt now was a good time to find something a bit more permanent. And like the fire district’s office, the unit offered by Spector is also free for the city.
The new center will have a front area for the volunteers and a back portion that will be utilized by the CSAs as well as uniformed officers. The department already designates offices to the Uptown area. While they won’t be permanently assigned to the center like a substation, Husted said the officers will work out of it as well. It gives them a designated area to meet with members of the public, do reports or take a break.
“Uptown is a center for tourism — we have a lot of merchants up here and a lot of activity,” Sedona City Manager Justin Clifton said. “It’s great that this partnership has emerged that we can put some of our resources here on a more regular basis. Before this they had to go back to the station, even for things like breaks. So to be able to have these resources more immediately available, be more accessible to the public and offer a better service, I think is just win, win, win.”
