Shawano County approved its long-awaited evidence storage building in June, but there are some details that still need to be ironed out. First, the Shawano Plan Commission will look into a request from the county to rezone the new facility by changing it from single-family and two-flat residential to planned development.
The $1 million investment will feature a 7,200 square-foot building used for evidence storage and Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber says there’s a chance it could also serve useful for other agencies.
“The city has a five-year plan possibly to rebuild their city hall and police department” Bieber said. “They would have to rebuild their evidence room. We’re really hoping that they come in with us and that they don’t rebuild an evidence building themselves or reduplicate a lot of that equipment.”
Sheriff Bieber added the county has made the city an offer regarding the facility’s use, and believes there’s a lot of benefits to sharing, with the biggest benefit being better use of time and space.
“We have plenty of space and the other thing that the city would be gaining is an evidence technician” he said. “Right now, they have three officers that deal with evidence and it’s a very time-consuming thing” he added. “If they came in with us they wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Sheriff Bieber says it would clear up those three officers for law enforcement work rather than taking inventory for evidence.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Police could be another agency to benefit from the county’s new building, and have already shown support when they addressed the Shawano County Board.