Police Chief Benjamin Newman oversaw plans for new Department of Public Safety headquarters, new uniforms and new campus liaisons in his first year at the university.

The university will spend $1.8 million to move the department headquarters from Washington Square to the basement of Trueblood Hall, Kevin Bame, vice chancellor for administration and finance, said in an email.

The administration decided to relocate the department as it would have cost about $5 million for a new building and $3.6 million to renovate Washington Square, according to the email.

President Randy Dunn and the SIU Board of Trustees approved Newman’s project during the May 8 board meeting.

Bame’s email stated the project will involve construction of a dispatch center, patrol briefing room, corporal’s area, training facilities, an emergency operations center, locker rooms, evidence storage and offices.

He said the new location is closer to the largest number of students residing in university housing.

Phil Gatton, director of plant and service operations, said asbestos will be removed from the basement before construction of office and technology spaces can begin.

“It’ll be turned into more of a typical police department, a lot different than what they have now,” he said. “If you walk around what they have now, it’s just a modified office complex. It’s not really useful.”

Gatton said a job this size usually takes 12 months to complete.

“We’re taking care of the asbestos, which will take a couple weeks,” he said.

The basement of Trueblood has a snack bar, prep kitchen, computer lab and writing center, which will all be moved to Grinnell Hall.

Along with the change in headquarters, Newman issued new police uniforms and began a building liaison program.

Bame said the new uniforms cost about $33,400, which was funded 75 percent by the chancellor’s office and 25 percent by the vice chancellor for administration and finance.

“It was something the officers wanted and [Newman] was able to fulfill that request,” Lt. Ryan House said. “It boosted moral and improved the look dramatically.”

The new uniforms are “LAPD blue,” which House said is almost black.

Bame said new uniforms for 39 sworn officers replaced the seven to 10-year-old ones.

The building liaison program is in its second year of operation and provides foot patrols on campus, Bame said.

“The program pairs an officer with a building,” House said, though every building will not have its own officer. “The officer is required to do foot patrols inside the building, along with attending programs when possible. It puts a little ownership of the building with the officers.”

Bame said the department did not hire any more officers to create this program.

There is a liaison for each of the 14 residence halls, as well as University Hall and Wall and Grand Apartments. Nine liaison officers, including one for Registered Student Organizations, fill these duties.

According to a press release from the department, liaisons attend housing staff meetings, coordinate special presentations and provide relevant safety information to the members of the community.

“We would like to expand this program in the future, but logistically, with the amount of officers and buildings, it’s impossible to do so,” he said.

Brent Meske can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brentmeskeDE.