Bellevue’s Police Chief says the department’s move to new headquarters will improve efficiency and services.
Mark Elbert was named Police Chief earlier this week. Elbert joined the Bellevue Police Department in 1996. He says the new Police Department headquarters, at 1510 Wall Street, will bring together offices that are disjointed now.
“The way things are right now, the way it’s been for years, it’s so segmented and broken apart, there’s a lot of duplication of things, and concerns about property and evidence, and those type of issues right now, we have to make runs to different parts to collect those things so I think it’ll be nice to have it all under one roof and to have everybody centrally located.”
Elbert says the department made significant cuts to its budget last year through restructuring. But he says additional budget reductions could cut in to services.
“We’re at a point where the budget is the budget, and it’s being allocated in such a way on a priority basis that this is the services we’re providing and this is how much it costs to do this. So to cut it further would substantially impact what we’re able to do.”
Elbert had served as Bellevue’s interim Police Chief since last June.