After nine years, the Virgin Islands Police Department on St. Thomas is moving "back home" to the Alexander A. Farrelly Criminal Justice Complex, which has undergone renovations.
Friday was moving day for several of the offices; more were expected to move over the weekend, according to Sgt. Annette Raimer, public relations officer. The department had been split between space in Nisky Center, where the records department was housed, and nearby Sub Base where the Commissioner's Office, Firearms Bureau and some other administrative offices were. It moved out of the Justice Complex in 1992, less than 10 years after it was built, because the space was in dire need of repairs.
"We've been paying a lot of rent," Raimer said, but she could not say just how much. Nor did she know the cost of renovations to the Justice Complex. She referred that question to attorney Glenda Lake, administrator of Territorial Court which has oversight for the complex. Lake was out of the office until late Friday afternoon and did not return a phone call seeking information.
Raimer said the move is "going to change a lot of things." For instance, "security will be much more stringent" at the complex. "You won't see any more parking on the sidewalk" and surveillance cameras will be reactivated.
