Bloomfield Township police and fire are asking voters to approve a public safety bond to expand into larger stations, saying they are running out of space.
On the November ballot, a bond dedicated solely to public safety would cost approximately $128 a year for a $295,000 home. The proposed $50 million bond would fund new facilities for both the police department and fire stations.
Battalion Chief Kevin Bailey showed the cramped conditions inside the fire station on 15 Mile Road, just west of Telegraph — a building close to a century old. He said there is no place to properly sanitize equipment, and women's changing areas and bathrooms are not up to today's standards.
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"3 am you get a fire, or any other call; everybody is getting up at the same time. They are running into each other. Nowhere else to go," Bailey said.
A similar situation is a daily reality at police headquarters on Telegraph, where dispatchers work out of limited space, 9-1-1 equipment is crammed into the attic, and facilities for female staff to change are far too small.
Police Chief James Gallagher said the building has been remodeled twice but is now unfit for expansion.
"We are policing in 2026, in a building from 1938, added to in the 60's and again in 1998," Gallagher said.
Gallagher also pointed out that crime victims currently have no private space to make reports.
"If a victim comes in for something there are in our lobby. We have no private rooms. No conference rooms we can take a victim to," Gallagher said.
Voters contacted about the proposal expressed mixed views.
"Women do need their own private locker rooms, men don't care how they look at each other but it's different for women," one voter said.
"Especially with how the economy is going and prices going up it's hard to ask for more money," another voter said.
The township said it can use up to $25 million in Capital Improvement funding to cover additional costs if the bond proposal passes.
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