By: Rylie Birdwell
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.− Fayetteville’s new $35 million Police headquarters is now under construction. In 2019, the community voted on a bond that would allot the millions of dollars for public safety facilities. The vote passed by around 71%.
After protests this summer regarding Police brutality, the community members do not want to spend this kind of money for the new facilities.
Resident, Clint Schneckloth, created a petition to try and defund this project. The petition’s goal is 5,000 signatures and as of now it has under 3,000.
“I want to continue to challenge our community, that if we are going to spend 30 million on a police station,” Schneckloth said, “shouldn’t we be spending even more to provide affordable housing that is quickly pricing people out of just even being able to live here.”
Schneckloth said the location of the headquarters could promote the militarization of police with it being built in a predominately African American neighborhood.
“Oh. there’s all these problems on the national stage around policing and racism, etc. That somehow Fayetteville could be immune from that; we’re not complicit in it, that’s just a myth I think”, Schneckloth said.
Fayetteville Police Chief, Mike Reynolds, said this new headquarters is needed to help better protect his officers. After the murder of Officer Stephen Carr, Reynolds said safety is the most important thing to him.
The headquarters will have amenities like an indoor firing range, more security measures for public safety officers, and more buildings to house their staff. The project is set to be completed within 18-months.
