VIDEO: New Starkville PD Substation in The Cotton District

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- The Starkville Police Department will start leasing out an apartment building  in The Cotton District starting December 1st. It will serve as a second substation for the department.

Chief Nichols says this building will help the officers better serve the community and put them in direct connection with the university students.

“The goal of having that substation there is to have a police presence in that area, as we know that area is heavily populated with college students, and it’s also heavily populated with a lot of bars, so we want to make sure that we have a presence over there to insure that the people over there are coming to enjoy and have a good time,” says Nichols.

He says the recent murder of Mississippi State student, Joseph Tillman in that area pushed this leasing deal forward.

“The violent crime in that area, the recent violent crime in that area, had a lot to do with us getting that substation now,” says Nichols.

Vice Mayor Roy Perkins says this is exactly what the city needed.

“With this particular location we hope to see officers out on a regular basis, patrolling and deterring crime,” says Perkins.

Starkville Developer, Dan Camp who is over the Cotton District is the one who offered the building to SPD completely free of cost.

He knows firsthand just how busy the streets of The Cotton District get on the weekend. He says he’s happy to do his part.

“We see about a third of Starkville’s population here on Thursday, Friday, Saturday weekends,” says Camp.

Chief Nichols says that even though the lease isn’t until the 1st of December, they can start moving in and be open for operation as early as the end of next week.