On the town election ballot, voters will be asked to approve a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion for the construction of the Dartmouth Police headquarters at the Gidley School site on Tucker Road. If approved, officials will be allowed to increase taxes above the state-mandated limit until the town has repaid money borrowed for construction costs. That total will not include the cost to demolish the Russells Mills headquarters or replace the ball fields at Gidley School.

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, the Dartmouth Police Union is asking that you support the construction of a new police station for a department that employs 89 sworn and civilian personnel.

As union president, and a twenty-three year police employee, I have seen and experienced how Dartmouth has transformed from a peaceful suburb, into a commercial, medical, and educational hub, populated by an ever expanding number of residents and visitors alike. As we are all aware, with this growing population of residents and visitors, there also comes an increase in crime that greatly facilitates the need for a new safer and more modern police station.

[Related: Contested races, ballot question for the April town election]

As you may or may not know, if approved, it will be the first time in the town’s history that a new police station will be built.

Since its inception in 1922, the police department has never been housed in a building constructed specifically for a growing law enforcement agency. Instead, it was placed in an aging (and sick) building that has been refinished and inadequately added on to throughout the years.

Working together with the town, the Dartmouth Police Union values and endorses that a new police station will:

• Provide easier access to the general public by being constructed in a more centralized location
• Provide a safe, healthy and efficient work environment for all employees
• Meet current employee needs, while allowing for a 20 percent increase in personnel moving forward

Please strongly consider voting for the construction of a new police station on April 4th, as it will not only prominently support YOUR police department as we continue to serve and protect the community, but it will also stand as an exceptional monument of the impressive relationship that the police and community have forged together in Dartmouth!

Please vote YES on Question 1 to support YOUR police.

Sean M. McGuire is the president of the Dartmouth Police Brotherhood, Inc. He can be reached at dartmouthpolicebrotherhood@gmail.com.