Sheriff’s Office substation prepares to open

Located in the former office of a flooring company, the new Shelby County Sheriff’s substation on U.S. 280 might have the nicest floors of any police station in the state. 

The new substation, located at Suite 117 in Greystone Park on U.S. 280, is getting ready for opening. Construction on the substation was completed during the week of June 22, but small issues have held up the completion and the SO is hoping for a September opening. The idea started while Sheriff John Samaniego was on the campaign trail.

As he talked to Shelby County residents on the path to winning the sheriff election, Samaniego said he heard over and over that there was a need for a new substation serving the thousands of homes and businesses in the north part of the county. The 280 corridor is also one of the busiest patrol areas for sheriff’s deputies.

“This is in a crossroads to six different [patrol] beats,” Samaniego said of the substation, which is located between Doug Baker Boulevard and Eagle Point.

Samaniego said the Heardmont Park substation on Cahaba Valley Road was an initial attempt to meet this need, but it does not have the full capabilities of the Sheriff’s Office. The Greystone Park substation will be a “full-service station.”

Shelby County residents may use the new 280 substation to file and obtain copies of accident and crime incident reports. They can also use the substation to meet with deputies and, unlike the Heardmont station, apply for pistol permits.

“It’s a very convenient location for the north part of the county so people don’t have to drive all the way to Columbiana anymore to get a pistol permit,” Capt. Jeff Hartley said.  

Kevin Williams, an employee of CrossFit 280 in the Greystone Center as well as a nearby resident, said that the area has had a need for a substation for a long time and he appreciates the greater sense of safety provided by its presence. 

“It’s centrally located to some of the bigger neighborhoods here, so it will help provide better coverage,” he said. 

There will be one administrative clerk, who has been training for the job for the past month, on duty at the substation from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. However, citizens can arrange to meet deputies at the station at all hours, and Samaniego anticipates between eight and 12 deputies regularly making use of the station. 

“It kind of adds that more personal touch,” Samaniego said.

Construction of the new 1,500-square-foot substation cost an estimated $100,000, Maj. Ken Burchfield said, and it includes a private room where citizens can file reports, a secure customer service counter with a waiting room, office space for computers and desks, a briefing area, a kitchen, roll call area and two bathrooms. 

Samaniego said despite the small square footage, the Sheriff’s Office designed the substation to maximize the uses both for deputies and residents.

In the future, he said the substation could provide a spot for small community meetings in the roll call room. With a growing county, he also “wouldn’t rule out” more substations in the future or the construction of a larger county services building to give the Sheriff’s Office a more permanent presence in north Shelby County. For the present, he anticipates the new Greystone Park substation will fill a lot of those needs.

“The reason this site was chosen is because of the population density around here,” said Burchfield. “A large part of the public we serve lives on the north end of the county, so we tried to put this in a place that made sense for them.”

For more information, visit the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office website at shelbyso.com.