City of Morgan Hill Public Safety Master Plan

Section 6. Departmentwide Issues

Facilities The Morgan Hill Police Department is housed in a city-owned facility that was built in 2001. The facility was originally constructed for use as a private business, but never occupied as such before the police department began occupying the building in 2007. The building has a total of about 43,300 sq. ft., of which about 37,200 sq. ft. is occupied by the MHPD. A private company leases the remaining 6,000 sq. ft. The facility provides exterior parking stalls for 122 vehicles and 23 interior garage parking stalls. Adequate space exists in the existing police department footprint to accommodate any foreseeable staffing growth in the department. Should the department choose to develop an on-site training facility in the future, consideration should be given to acquiring the privately leased portion of the facility at the termination of the lease. The area of the building occupied by the police department provides various executive and administrative office space, work areas for law enforcement and support personnel, a communications center, male and female locker rooms, a training room/emergency operations center, a property and evidence room, a temporary prisoner holding facility, and an expansive garage area. The public lobby is accessed through unlocked exterior doors that enter into an area monitored by security cameras. Access into the building beyond the lobby is controlled by two key card access doors. The rear parking has a security fence and key card access gates. The interior garage area is secured by roll-up doors at the north end and south end of the building. Access points into the building within the fenced area are also controlled by key card access doors. Interior access points to the communications center, temporary holding facility, and administration offices are also key card access doorways. The building’s front exterior contains a significant amount of glass, which forms the exterior walls of the department’s administration offices. There were no visible security enhancements to the glass or security barriers across the front of the building. This environment exposes MHPD staff to a potential security breach. Security of the building’s interior and exterior portals was maintained during the CPSM site visit, except for two locations. The interior door leading to the administration offices was frequently propped open, as was the door to the communications center. Staff raised concern about access by the public to secure areas during training or community events through the training room. However, observations and information from staff would indicate this security concern is caused by breach of security protocol and can be easily rectified by enforcing existing policy. Fleet The MHPD operates with a fleet of 38 vehicles and five trailers. The fleet includes 14 marked patrol vehicles, 8 unmarked detective vehicles, and 2 motorcycles. The balance of the fleet is made up of various vehicles assigned to administrative and support personnel, with 11 designated as take- home vehicles.

Police Operations and Data Analysis Report, Morgan Hill, California

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