Basketball court in a police station

[Deleted]

The police station I am working on has a full size basketball court in it.  I am not sure what I think.  On the one hand I can see why the police would want a place to exercise and enjoy each other's company.  On the other hand I think that the country is way to far on the us vs them when it comes to police and it might be better if police had to go to a regular gym to work out.  That  way they would mix with non police more often in a neutral setting.  Also there is the cost of building the thing.  I am just guessing they will have more then a basket ball court, probably weight room etc.  I see the gym so know it is there for sure.

Should police have stuff like gyms etc that segregate them from the public or should they have to join regular gyms just like most people?

[Wisconsin Beth]

The joke around here is that when the cops want something pricey, they just do higher level drug busts and use the money/stuff confiscated to do their project. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jul 29, 2015 15:15:34 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

Is it used only by the police or is it in a dual use building?   It's not uncommon for police/city hall/fire to be co-located. 

Our training academy is an old school, used by both police and fire.  So there's a couple of gyms and who knows what all in there.  Disclaimer, I've been there several times for training but never really explored the place. 

[Deleted]

Jul 29, 2015 15:15:34 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

Is it used only by the police or is it in a dual use building?   It's not uncommon for police/city hall/fire to be co-located. 

No, it is a police station and no fire station.  It is a 74-million dollar set of buildings.  Here is a link for  the ground breaking.

[Deleted]

It has its own indoor gun range which I can understand a bit more. 

Some of the ways the building was designed are stupid.  We installed some glass that they built a wall behind, so if the glass breaks the wall has to be taken apart.  That means a broken window will need glazers, sheetrockers, painters and ceiling tile workers to come out to change it.  A broken window could easily cost $10,000 to change.  They could have gotten around this by having the glass be outside set instead of inside set.

[Deleted]

should police have separate gyms or should they have to go to gyms with average people?  Is segregating cops bad for cops and the public?

[Ombud]

There's a reason cops don't:
♤ live in city they work in
♤ have listed phone numbers
◇ let most know their occupation (PTA, Boosters)
♧ request anonymity

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jul 29, 2015 16:06:47 GMT -5 @hickle said:

should police have separate gyms or should they have to go to gyms with average people?  Is segregating cops bad for cops and the public?

Here, in my building (3rd police district), there's a small exercise room.  There's a glass wall overlooking the sally port so I can see in it.  There's some basic equipment there (think treadmill, weights) in what seems to be a standard size bedroom.  I don't think I've ever noticed anyone in there.  The flip side is that I'm rarely looking to see if it's use. 

Personally, I'd prefer cops be fit.  Ditto for Firefighters, who also have their own equipment in each station house.  Should they have a separate gym?  I don't know.  I've never really considered it.  The fire personnel I know well enough to talk about working out tend to have memberships to a gym.  They go there outside of what they do in their fire station. 

[Deleted]

Jul 29, 2015 16:17:13 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Jul 29, 2015 16:06:47 GMT -5 @hickle said:

should police have separate gyms or should they have to go to gyms with average people?  Is segregating cops bad for cops and the public?

Here, in my building (3rd police district), there's a small exercise room.  There's a glass wall overlooking the sally port so I can see in it.  There's some basic equipment there (think treadmill, weights) in what seems to be a standard size bedroom.  I don't think I've ever noticed anyone in there.  The flip side is that I'm rarely looking to see if it's use. 

Personally, I'd prefer cops be fit.  Ditto for Firefighters, who also have their own equipment in each station house.  Should they have a separate gym?  I don't know.  I've never really considered it.  The fire personnel I know well enough to talk about working out tend to have memberships to a gym.  They go there outside of what they do in their fire station. 

Fireman are a different category I think.  My son-in-law is a fireman.  He works 24 hour shifts so there is a lot of downtime where he could be exercising, while he is required to be at the station.  I do not think police work 24 hour shifts, though.   I think cops should be fit too.  This has to be at least a  $250,000 dollar basketball court.

In old movies and stuff it seems the police were known and part of the community.  I think now the police view themselves as separate from the rest of us.  I think that is how they can be so ruthless to some people.  Idk, just surmising.

[Tennesseer]

Jul 29, 2015 16:26:04 GMT -5 @hickle said:

Jul 29, 2015 16:17:13 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Here, in my building (3rd police district), there's a small exercise room.  There's a glass wall overlooking the sally port so I can see in it.  There's some basic equipment there (think treadmill, weights) in what seems to be a standard size bedroom.  I don't think I've ever noticed anyone in there.  The flip side is that I'm rarely looking to see if it's use. 

Personally, I'd prefer cops be fit.  Ditto for Firefighters, who also have their own equipment in each station house.  Should they have a separate gym?  I don't know.  I've never really considered it.  The fire personnel I know well enough to talk about working out tend to have memberships to a gym.  They go there outside of what they do in their fire station. 

Fireman are a different category I think.  My son-in-law is a fireman.  He works 24 hour shifts so there is a lot of downtime where he could be exercising, while he is required to be at the station.  I do not think police work 24 hour shifts, though.   I think cops should be fit too.  This has to be at least a  $250,000 dollar basketball court.

In old movies and stuff it seems the police were known and part of the community.  I think now the police view themselves as separate from the rest of us.  I think that is how they can be so ruthless to some people.  Idk, just surmising.

Have you asked anyone associated with the new building if the basketball court is only for police officers or will it be used for bridge building with the neighborhood children, teens, and adults in an activity both groups would enjoy too?

[Deleted]

It never crossed my mind that it might be for outreach.  I guess that is possible.  I would think they would have done it a bit differently, like in its own building or something, maybe a park outside also.  Idk, though.  I can't ask anyone because it is just construction workers there, and none of us would know. 

The police station is in a black neighborhood, is it racist to think that is why they chose basketball for outreach?

[Tennesseer]

Jul 29, 2015 16:43:34 GMT -5 @hickle said:

It never crossed my mind that it might be for outreach.  I guess that is possible.  I would think they would have done it a bit differently, like in its own building or something, maybe a park outside also.  Idk, though.  I can't ask anyone because it is just construction workers there, and none of us would know. 

The police station is in a black neighborhood, is it racist to think that is why they chose basketball for outreach?

Is basketball a popular pickup sports game just for black kids or do white kids like basketball too? Most kids like playing basketball regardless of their skin color.

ETA: Other popular American sports require the game to be played outdoors such as football, baseball an soccer. So it makes perfectly good sense to build a basketball court. It can be played in all sorts of weather year round because it can be played indoors.

[Jaguar]

Well it's better than a donut place.