New police substation in Niagara Falls enhancing safety in the city

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The city of Niagara Falls is teaming up with the Niagara Falls Water Board to help enhance safety in the city.

The city cut ribbon on a new police substation on the grounds of the Water Board.

Officials say the unlikely partnership was actually a perfect fit to help reduce police response time to certain parts of the city.

When it comes to policing, work time is critical.

In Niagara Falls it can take valuable minutes for the police to file a report at the headquarters on main street before responding to a call on the south or east side of the city.

Now that’s about to change. On Wednesday, Mayor Robert Restaino along with the police superintendent joined forces with officials at the Niagara Falls Water Board to cut ribbon on this new police substation on the grounds of the Water Board.

“This will give us sort of a landing spot here in the eastside of the city in the LaSalle area to accommodate our officers who may be assigned to this location, so that they are as required to travel all the way back to the main street location to do that which is necessary, to process paperwork, or to do other items that they would otherwise have to do in order to be able to get themselves back on the road,” said Restaino.

The substation was a former house for security guards on the premises of the water plant. Water Board Chairman Nick Forster says the Mayor approached him with the idea when he saw the vacant shack.

“I said that’s a brilliant idea. We’ll have to look at getting approval from the Niagara Falls Water Board and the Mayor says we’ll have to go in front of the city council for approval as well,” said Forster.

The council at the Water Board approved the proposal. Restaino says converting the shack to a functioning substation was done at little to no expense for the city.

“As I indicated it was done in-house. So, a lot of the infrastructure that was changed out was done by folks here at the Water Board. The equipment that you saw in the video, the office equipment, that was equipment that was here, simply changed out for use at that facility,” said Restaino.

Inside, a desk and chair, a computer, microwave, and small refrigerator.

“I think it serves the purpose, again this isn’t going to be a satellite headquarters, it’s going to be a substation for the officers in this zone to come in and, as the superintendent indicated, the ability to transmit a report and quickly get back on the road, recharge a radio, do the things that are necessary to keep them in the zone and back on the street,” said Mayor Restaino.

Forster says in addition to benefiting community, the Water Board gains on site security, something they haven’t had in years.

“This gives us the police visibility at a site that should normally have some either police presence, and or security presence,” said Forster.

The substation will not be accessible to the public, all in person services will take place at police headquarters on main street.