Since Hamilton City Council established the police department on June 28, 1875, things have changed, said Hamilton Police Chief Trent Chenoweth, who was appointed as the city’s top cop in April 2024 and hired in July 2024.
The department started using technology decades after it was created, such as two-way radios in 1935. Computers in cruisers weren’t even a thing for a significant part of Chenoweth’s 34-year Hamilton policing career, he said.
“When you start getting into the numbers and looking at the reality of where we are today, technology plays such an instrumental role in how things get done, and this building is very much a part of that,” he said of the Hamilton Justice Center, which is home to the police department and the Hamilton Municipal Court.
“When this building was constructed, it was constructed in the next 100 years in mind,” he said. “It’s an honor to be leading this organization, to be leading the men and women here. I don’t take it lightly. For me, it’s something that was a goal of a lifetime, and for a kid from Lindenwald to be sitting behind this desk is something I’m tremendously proud of.”
Assistant Chief Brian Robinson said this project, which was started when City Manager Craig Bucheit was police chief, would not be what it is today without him, Executive Director of Public Safety Scott Scrimizzi and Hamilton City Council.
“They are hands-down is the reason why this is here,” he said. “They listened to us, they listened to the citizens of the city, and they were able to make this happen.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
He said a focus group toured police departments around Southwest Ohio to see what did not work for them versus what did work. Robinson said one of the big things they needed in this facility the former station — a former Kroger on South Front Street it had been in since 1977 — were windows.
“That was one of the points when we designed this building. We wanted a lot of light coming in,” he said. “There are no windows in that building whatsoever, with the exception of one. There is one window in that entire building, and it was a skylight that was in the prisoner holding cell.”
While the Hamilton Justice Center, which is across Hanover Street from the Butler County Jail, Chenoweth said while the building is part plays a role in police technology, it also plays a role in recruitment and retention.
“As someone who spent 34 years in the old building, you didn’t realize how old things had gotten until you move into a new building like this,” he said. “This facility has as much of a purpose as anything else you can throw out there, whether it’s insurance or money. A lot of people want to work in an environment like this, and a lot of places just don’t have the facilities that we do. It’s become an attraction people talk about.”
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