By Philip Haldiman, Independent Newsmedia

Peoria’s northern region just upped its safety quotient.

The city last week held the grand opening of its newest police facility — a state-of-the-art, $11 million, 17,000-square-foot facility to serve residents north of Bell Road. The building is an expansion on the existing Pinnacle Peak  Public Safety Facility building, 23100 N. Lake Pleasant Parkway.

“As one of the fastest growing cities in the Valley, we need to recognize that (the police) need the space and tools necessary to make sure we have ongoing safety for our citizens, as well as grow, but also that our police department is safe and secure in their surroundings,” Mayor Cathy Carlat said.

Most importantly, she added,  the building meets the needs of the community as it grows into the far reaches of Peoria.

“With this expanded facility, designed to enable public safety growth as our population grows, Peoria citizens can rest assured that they will continue to receive exceptional service from the men and women of the Peoria Police Department,” the mayor said.

The new building features a dedicated training room, prisoner processing area, K-9 training area, modern workout facility and multiple officer workstations.

About 100 members of the community attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony where they were treated to refreshments and guided tours of the building.

Mayor Carlat said it has been a long time coming.

She said Police Chief Roy Minter and his staff have worked diligently to ensure a safe and secure city for all who live, work, play and visit Peoria. She added the police department is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, which approved the agency with a gold standard, the highest designation offered. She said to support these standards, the city is committed to providing an environment conducive to the state of operational readiness necessary for their success.

Public safety is a priority, she said.

The city bought the property in 2009, and planing for construction began in November 2014, with the groundbreaking on July 7, 2016.

Vice Mayor Jon Edwards, who represents the area, thanked those who made the facility come to life.

“This just didn’t pop out of the ground. It took a lot of work, so I want to  commend all the people who made this a reality,” he said. “This facility is an important piece of our mission to provide a safe community under the shield of a  first-class police department.”

Peoria has seen immense growth since the Pinnacle Peak  Public Safety Facility first opened.

When the initial 20,000-square-foot facility opened in 2001, the city had a population  of about 120,000 and the police department had 127 sworn and 54 non-sworn employees for a total of 181 total employees. At the time, Pinnacle Peak  Public Safety Facility housed three supervisors, and 12 officers.  Now the department has 199 sworn and 107 non-sworn employees, for a total of 306 employees, an increase of 69 percent. Today, Peoria’s population is about 165,000.

“This new facility will allow us to strengthen our commitment of building and sustaining collaborative partnerships with our community,” Chief Minter said.