Filing cabinets, box-filled closets and jail cells converted to offices can be seen at the DeKalb Police Department, 200 S. Fourth St.

But DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen wants to fix all that.

On May 19, Feithen once again will be at the city council workshop to present plans and information for a new building site. The new possible location, on West Lincoln Highway opposite Pizza Hut, will give police quicker access to the arterial streets of DeKalb without the bother of the railroad tracks, Feithen said.

Roughly 73 percent of DeKalb residents live north of the railroad tracks, with 48 percent west of First Street. These population ratios translate into serious offense numbers, with 79 percent of serious crimes occurring on the north side of town, 55 percent of the entire total in the northwest corner alone.

With intersections closed for an average of four hours each normal day because of trains, Feithen said it was important for the department to relocate to the north side.

Besides providing greater visibility that is easier to find, the West Lincoln Highway location also puts the police officers in between two underpasses, Pearl Street and Annie Glidden Road. The westward growth of the city also puts the police department at a more central location at the chosen site.

The department is in need of a new building for many reasons, Feithen said. The city has utilized this location as a police department for about 35 years, and the department needs to find a better location to be able to accommodate future growth.

“First of all, we’re overcrowded in this location. There’s nowhere else to put another desk,” Feithen said. “We have storage boxes, files and file cabinets in locations where they shouldn’t be.”

Boxes are tucked into every corner and every possible space in every office and every closet is used. Filing cabinets are stuffed into closets to make way for additional desks and filing cabinets, with miscellaneous items tucked in the remaining gaps.

Even false walls were built in both interview rooms in the department in order to build additional storage closets.

Interview rooms are a problem in themselves. The department only has two real interview rooms which often are used when speaking with suspects, leaving no space to house witnesses and victims.

“When we have incidents when we have to bond out prisoners, they may have to walk through witnesses and victims in the lobby,” Feithen said. “We want to provide witnesses and victims with rooms they are comfortable in and that offers them the privacy and security that they should have.”

The department is looking to expand its facilities to about 50,000 square feet in order to accommodate current needs and future growth.

We want to make sure we make the right decision, Feithen said. This is not a short term fix; we’re going to have to live with it for a long time.