American City & County’s 2017 Crown Communities Awards

Just three years ago, the cramped Homestead, Fla. (pop. 70,000) Police headquarters was overrun with mold, leaks and high levels of radioactive radon gas. In May 2014, 74 percent of Homestead voters approved the sale of $21 million in bonds and a property tax hike to finance a new, modernized police headquarters in the city’s historic downtown as part of a larger downtown revitalization effort. The old, hazardous headquarters closed in March 2015 as police moved to a temporary location, and construction of the new building began that October.

The new 54,468 square-foot Homestead Police Headquarters opened in February 2017. The Green Globes-certified building features upgraded equipment, modernized jail cells, dedicated report-writing rooms and more space for visitor parking, evidence lockers and property storage.

With uniformed patrol closest to the street, administrative offices higher up in the building and a lack of radon, police have noted that the headquarters is safer and allows for better organization than its predecessor. As part of the city’s larger downtown revitalization project, the new police headquarters accompanies a new city hall and a renovated historic theater. 

“It’s a legacy of the people who voted to raise their own taxes so that their police officers could have a safe place to work and who really believe and see a vision for a revitalized downtown,” says Zackery Good, Homestead public information officer.