Celisa Lehew has worked for the Chapel Hill Police Department for more than two decades. Her entire tenure — from her early years on patrol to her present days as police chief — was spent working in an outdated, undersized, and largely windowless headquarters at 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, often hearing about a possible move to a new location.
“I doubted seeing it in my career,” Lehew told Chapelboro.
But it’s a reality at long last: Chapel Hill police headquarters have officially moved to 7300 Millhouse Road, with a 15-year lease. It will officially open to the public on Monday, but the department held a media session on Thursday to show off the building.
“I’m really, really excited,” Lehew said. “And our officers are really elated every time they come in.”
Chapel Hill police chief Celisa Lehew stands inside the lobby of the department’s new headquarters on Millhouse Road. (Photo by Aaron Keck/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
The new headquarters covers 55,000 square feet. That’s more than twice the size of the 25,000-square-foot headquarters on 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which was originally built specifically for Chapel Hill Police but which the department had long outgrown.
“We were so crammed in that building,” Lehew said of the old headquarters. And size wasn’t the only issue: Lehew said the building had also fallen into disrepair in recent years, with problems ranging from leaks to mold to insects — including one big spider that bit her own hand two weeks ago, causing major swelling.
“On a good day we had hot water,” she said with a laugh.
But now, it’s a different story. The new space is leak-free and mold-free, with wide hallways, plenty of windows, expanded locker rooms, a 4,500-square-foot gym with open space for training exercises, and plenty of workstations and lockers to go around – plus some extras, in case the department adds more staff in the future. Lehew said all those features are big morale boosters, which in turn helps the department recruit and retain top officers.
Chapel Hill police chief Celisa Lehew shows off the gym inside the department’s new headquarters on Millhouse Road. (Photo by Aaron Keck/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
Another key feature is a much bigger emergency operations center, which the department will employ for the first time to manage safety for the UNC-Clemson football game on October 4 (barring some other unforeseen crisis, that is).
“The last (emergency operations) space was maybe a tenth of this size,” said Chapel Hill emergency preparedness manager Kelly Drayton.
Chapel Hill police chief Celisa Lehew stands inside the department’s new emergency operations center on Millhouse Road. (Photo by Aaron Keck/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
Lehew says the larger space and extra amenities will enable Chapel Hill Police to better achieve its top priorities. An improved simulator room will be used for de-escalation training, with real-life scenarios; an expanded women’s locker room will help the department recruit more female officers, as part of the nationwide “30 x 30” initiative to bring more women into law enforcement; and the new gym space will allow Chapel Hill Police to host a basic law enforcement training academy starting in March – something they haven’t been able to do for years.
Another key amenity: the new headquarters includes four wellness rooms, to help officers decompress after dealing with traumatic situations. Lehew said mental health is becoming a higher priority for police departments nationwide, not just in Chapel Hill – as the average law enforcement officer deals with approximately 800 crisis moments in their career.
“All of us moved into that 828 building when it was 30 years-plus [old], so it’s just awesome to have this space,” said the police chief. “And [it’s great] that we dedicated space to those priorities of health and wellness, recruitment and retention, and response appropriateness.”
Many of those features will be out of the public view, but Lehew said the new headquarters will also have an inviting space for residents – including a welcoming lobby, multiple conference rooms, and an expanded classroom.
“Having a welcoming space for our community is really important,” Lehew added, saying the goal is for the space to be able to better host the public. “One of (our priorities) is to build community trust and relationships…and to have that space to invite people in, and talk about what we do and how we do it, is really important. And it hasn’t felt good in the last few years, when you welcome someone into a space that’s really not equipped for that.”
Chief Lehew’s not the only one who’s excited about the new police headquarters. In an interview with 97.9 The Hill, Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson echoed the sentiment that the move was long overdue.
“This is long-awaited,” said Anderson. “We’ve been wanting to get employees into a much better spot, our old police station is not okay, (and) I think our staff is very excited to finally be moving over…everybody is quite thrilled and it’s going to be great.”
Anderson also credited Lehew’s advocacy throughout the search for the department’s new home.
“She has been working so hard for her teams to get out of there for so long, so it’s a huge milestone for her,” the mayor said.
The public can visit the new Chapel Hill Police Headquarters on Millhouse Road during business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) starting on Monday, September 29; Lehew says Chapel Hill Transit will be adding a stop at the building soon. The department is also holding a public open house, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, November 13.
As for the old headquarters at 828 MLK Boulevard? Eventually the building will likely be torn down and the site redeveloped, though coal ash on the property will limit the town’s redevelopment options. In the meantime, though, Lehew said the current building will still serve a vital purpose: Orange County will take over the space on October 1 and use it this winter as a site for cold-weather cots, for people who need a place to sleep when temperatures drop.
Featured photo by Aaron Keck/Chapel Hill Media Group.
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