New arrest processing unit needed, police say

Calgary may be inching toward a new arrest processing unit for the police service.

It currently uses a small, 50-year-old downtown building to deal with arrested suspects, a facility Police Chief Rick Hanson has joked is "out of the dark ages." Hanson says the building is unsafe for police and prisoners alike and wants to see a new unit constructed.

Hanson says the province has givenpolice land near the Calgary Remand Centre for the new facility,but the forcedoesn't have any money to start building.

"It's just a matter of... divesting ourselves of the building we're in now and then finding the funding we need to build out there," Hanson said.

Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart saidthe matter should be discussed during the upcoming fall budget debate and that she supports puttingthe current property up for sale to help fund the new building.