The City of Bowling Green and Bowling Green State University are considering a new joint emergency services building.

Officials may use the recently opened University of Toledo Police and Ohio State Highway Patrol building as an example. The police chiefs, fire chief and Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher met for a tour and discussions at the UT building on Friday.

“The collaboration of agencies opens up the lines of communication,” Jeff Newton, former UT police chief and new UT associate vice president for public safety, said.

Ohio Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, organized the discussions that also included Bowling Green City Administrator and Safety Director Lori Tretter, Bowling Green Fire Division Chief Bill Moorman, Bowling Green Police Chief Tony Hetrick, BGSU Police Chief Mike Campbell, Ohio State Highway Patrol Maj. John Altman and UT Police Chief Rodney Theis.

The two departments moved into that facility on Nov. 30, 2020.

The new joint building is a 20,000 square feet facility just off the University of Toledo campus, on Dorr Street and Secor Road.

“I think this is a great example of how collaborations can bring together public safety services and resources to better protect the communities and citizens that are sworn to protect and serve,” Ghanbari said. “There’s only a finite amount of tax dollars that can be allocated toward these projects. If we can partner, we can, at the end of the day, be better stewards of those tax dollars and get a stronger, more responsive, more collaborative public safety.”

Ghanbari said that the concept for Bowling Green started with a conversation about the new Multi-Agency Radio Communication System Tower in Bowling Green and the collaboration between departments that was required to make the project happen.

There isn’t a formal timeline for a new building in Bowling Green. The first facility that needs to be replaced is the Bowling Green Fire Division headquarters, which is currently located across from campus, on East Court Street and Thurstin Avenue.

“Hearing about the success they have had here, we felt it was worth the time to hear about their experience,” Tretter said.

Moorman said the building discussiion is in the early stage.

“We certainly are looking at a potential replacement for our main station. We’re really in the looking stage and trying to work out who we could partner with to save money,” he said. “The partnership can actually save you a tremendous amount of money.”

The benefits of the joint building found by Altman, Newton and Theis have been numerous. There are savings on mechanicals, more efficient use of space and staff, and also the added presence in the community.

Local neighborhood leaders have sent many notes of thanks to the department, which used to be housed in a larger university administrative building on the Toledo campus.

Altman saw the spirit of collaboration develop between the two police units.

“We all know that when things go wrong, it’s all due to communication,” Altman said.

He said that in the past there could be friction between the different departments when working at the same scenes, but today they have bridged gaps and regularly lend each other a hand.

“It’s hard to be angry, because you have to interact with somebody. I think, the debriefs, I think the discussions afterwards, help grow that and help everyone improve, because it’s almost physically forced,” Altman said. “It doesn’t allow anyone to get back into your car or your truck and go back to your own corners and deal with it next time. You’re going back to the same place, so you have to have those conversations.”

They also share garage space, the fitness room, a large conference room and the command post, which has a wall of video screens with access to 1,000 different live cameras on the university campus.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” Altman said. “This is a gorgeous building … and it’s nice to be able to go next door, if you have a question.”

Newton said the University of Akron is also considering a similar project, that would combine the city and university departments.