NORTH PHOENIX – Phoenix plans within the next decade to build a police precinct station  north of Carefree Highway near the Ben Avery Shooting Range and west of Interstate 17.

 The city also plans to build a police substation at a yet‑to‑be selected site along the Black Canyon Corridor.

 Both new facilities, officials said, are needed to accommodate projected population growth in the area.

 “We were looking for things that will work well, being situated on the back side of a shooting range, that will also compliment the area,” said Phoenix Councilman Dave Siebert.

 A federal prison west of I‑17 is situated at Pioneer Road.

“What better place to put a substation than by a federal prison,” Siebert said.

 Phoenix has not yet allocated the money to buy the 80 acres of state owned land where the precinct station  will be built,  but the city will allocate the money in the future, he said.

 “It’s not to be built in this (near‑term) bond program but we’re doing the responsible thing planning 10 years out,” he said. “The precinct station will be out there before the vast majority of the development. You don’t want to put it that far out that patrol cars have to drive in the opposite direction.”

 Siebert said a Phoenix police substation will be constructed in the interim–before the precinct station is finished–but that a site has not been selected and a construction deadline date has not been set.

 Residents, however, need not fear the current lack of police protection, Siebert said. “It’s not as if folks don’t have coverage,” he said.

 The Joilet Buff Community Center, located at 35th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road, has what Siebert referred to as “the first regional park with a community‑based policing center.”      

  All patrols serving the northern area of the city leave from Joilet Buff, Siebert said, but have easy access to I‑17. He added that police helicopters are stationed at Deer Valley as well.

Reach the reporter at jennifer@thedesertadvocate.com.