Rapid City Police and Fire Depts. discuss needed upgrades with surplus funds

RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Rapid City Police Department looking to establish a new precinct in a growing part of Rapid City.

The growth, paired with an increased number of calls for Rapid City’s Police and Fire Departments, contributing to the need for updates – and with a surplus, around $20 million, the city of Rapid City is in position to do so.

The surplus is a result of budget cuts the city made to get ahead of impacts of the pandemic that didn’t materialize.

With the money in the picture, the fire and police departments, along with other city departments, submitted proposals to use the surplus.

The police department is asking for around $1.8 million to buy property that will house the new precinct.

Police say that they could bring some south and west sector officers to a portion of the city that’s seen an increased call volume and produce faster response time.

“For us, we know that if we’re able to bring more resources into the area where our response times are little bit weaker, it’s going to help us make those response times quicker,” said RCPD Chief Don Hedrick.

The fire department asking for $10 million for the remodel of Fire Station 1, which has been in the same footprint since 1975.

The fire department also seeking $2 million for a training facility, which includes a burn building for its training property on Creek Drive.

“It’s important. We need to get it done, there’s a lot of things that need to be addressed in this building to make it a safe and productive work place,” said RCFD Chief Jason Culberson.

The city can also decide to keep the money and use it for things down the road.

“They could spend, you know, some of it, they could spend all of it or none of it. They could basically, you know, bank it or look to use it for other needs down the road,” said Darrell Shoemaker, Communications Coordinator for the City of Rapid City.

For a full list of the proposals, click here.