CASPER, Wyo. — Results of a recent survey suggest that the majority of people in Natrona County would support the use of “sixth cent” sales and use tax revenues for the construction of a new Casper police station.
The City of Casper employed the ETC Institute to conduct the survey to gauge registered voter support for “various projects the county is thinking about including on the ballot.”
That includes a new station for the Casper Police Department. The survey found that about 61% of voters would support using “sixth cent” dollars for a new police station.
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The city says that ETS obtained 865 survey responses and that 500 responses were needed in order for the survey’s results to be considered statistically significant based on the population and number of voters in the county.
People who received the surveys were asked the following question:
Currently, the Casper Police Department leases space in the Hall of Justice, which was built in 1977.
Recent third party research has verified that the existing Police Department has only half the space needed for efficient operations for today’s needs, let alone that which is needed for future growth.
Additionally, the existing facility has no capacity to meet the rapidly expanding technology needs of modern Law Enforcement.
The City of Casper is seeking $42.5 million to design, build, and equip a modern police facility capable of serving the community for the next 50 years. The facility would include modern training facilities, modern evidence facilities, a community meeting space (also available for public use) and would be designed to centralize public safety services such as the Municipal Court.
Knowing this, how supportive would you be of building a new police facility for the City of Casper?
City of Casper
Responses to the question broke down as follows:
Among those who said they were not supportive or were unsure of whether they support using the money for the police station, the survey found the following reasons:
The Casper City Council is set to discuss the results of the survey during their Tuesday, March 10 work session.
In October 2019, the council discussed the following four options to meet the needs of the police department:
- 1) Reuse of the existing Hall of Justice by renovating existing space and expanding the floor space by constructing a new addition, attached to, and/or immediately adjacent the current structure
- 2) a building of new construction on a clean site to be identified
- 3) renovate and expand the former Sears space in the East Ridge Mall
- 4) renovate and expand the former Star-Tribune building.
Further details of the survey are included in the council’s work session work packet.
If you would like to contact members of the Casper City Council regarding this or any other issue, here is their contact information:
Mayor Steve Freel (Ward III, Term expires 1/3/23):
Vice Mayor Khrystyn Lutz (Ward I, Term expires 1/3/23):
Councilman Charlie Powell (Ward II, Term Expires 1/5/21):
Councilman Shawn Johnson (Ward II, Term expires 1/3/23):
Councilman Ken Bates (Ward II, Term expires 1/5/21):
Councilman Steve Cathey (Ward III, Term Expires 1/5/21):
Councilman Bob Hopkins (Ward I, Term expires 1/5/21):
Councilman Mike Huber (Ward I, Term expires 1/5/21):
Councilman Ray Pacheco (Ward III, Term expires 1/3/23):
Council members can also be reached by mail at: 200 N. David Street, 82601
If you would like to contact members in your specific ward, but don’t know which ward you are in, a map is available at the City of Casper’s website.
