Miniature versions of the DeKalb Police Department are popping up all over.

Just three months after the city’s first substation was built inside Wal-Mart Supercenter, 2300 Sycamore Road, the DeKalb police are preparing to open another substation inside University Villages, 722 N. Annie Glidden Road.

The new station, which Lt. Carl Leoni says will be up and running in a couple of weeks, will be located in the office/recreation center area of University Villages.

“It will increase the amount of time an officer can spend on the street,” Leoni said.

It also will be easier for students to be taken to University Villages for questioning as opposed to having them come downtown, he added.

Much like the Wal-Mart location, the new station will be used primarily by officers doing their paper work for crimes happening in the area, thus eliminating the drive to and from the main department on Fourth Street.

The new substation also will act as a center for the bike patrol on the northwest side of town.

Along with the new substations, the bike patrol is another new feature for the DeKalb Police Department. Both ideas have been thrown around for a few years but became reality after current chief Bill Feithen took over, Leoni said.

“Before the stabbing and shootings it was already in motion,” Leoni said, in reference to several incidents near the N IU campus during the past year. “It was something that was gonna happen anyway.”

The current station at Wal-Mart is going well, Leoni said. He added that it also is a theft deterrent because a shoplifter is less likely to steal something if there’s a possibility of an officer in the area catching them.

University Villages was chosen as the next substation location because it’s a central area for the university, and the management was receptive to the idea. Managers were so receptive, in fact, that they are minimizing department costs by donating space, furniture, computers and phone lines.

With the new station almost open, Leoni wants students to know that it’s not a police department and an officer will rarely be on duty in the office.

“In an emergency, you should still call 911,” he said. “Don’t run over to the office and beat on the door.”