The Sarnia Police Service (SPS) is looking to lease two additional spaces in the city to help alleviate parking lot and front desk congestion at its Christina Street facility.
Police Chief Derek Davis said the first location would provide reception space for collision reporting, as well as space for vehicle storage and maintenance.
The second site, located downtown, would provide space for Victim Services of Sarnia-Lambton and Sarnia Lambton Crime Stoppers, and may also be used as a satellite office for outreach teams such as IMPACT and MHEART.
While the locations were not disclosed, Davis said a public announcement will be made at a later date.
The SPS Board approved plans to obtain five-year leases during Thursday's meeting so lease negotiations can continue.
The first location is estimated to cost $60,000 and the second is expected to cost approximately $10,000 in the first year.
Davis said there would also be one-time costs to consider to properly configure the sites and purchase equipment and signage. The board approved the use of up to $200,000 from reserves.
It's expected the added costs will impact the 2026 and 2027 operating budgets. As stated in a report, the board may consider opportunities to adjust the 2027 budget to compensate for the additional lease costs incurred.
With details still being ironed out, Davis said he hopes to have staff moved into the new sites by July.
"We want to start as soon as the lease is signed, get everything ready because there's some urgency to get this done," he said.
He said approximately 68 officers and six to eight people involved with Victim Services would utilize the additional space.
Officers who work off-site will still be expected to check in at SPS headquarters.
"They report here, they grab their equipment here, they report off-duty here," Davis said. "If they need an office space, they'd use that (the leased sites); otherwise, they're out doing their patrol work."
Davis noted it's a short-term solution.
"If you look at the long-term, even with this building, anything we want to do is going to take years and years," he said. "We're buying some time, taking a little bit of pressure off areas that we can but again, it doesn't remove some of those core fundamental challenges we still have yet to address."
The SPS and its board have been very vocal about the state of the aging Christina Street facility and how the service has outgrown it. Plans for a proposed new build were put on hold when funding was axed from the 2026 budget through the use of strong mayor powers.
"The SPS Board ultimately elected not to pursue arbitration at this time, but instead to continue to explore viable solutions to the deficiencies of the current facility," read a SPS Board report. "Land studies at the Old London Line location are continuing to determine the appropriateness of that land for future facility considerations."
The SPS currently leases space at Lambton Mall for training purposes and as a backup communication centre.
