Fayetteville Police Department adding substation to serve downtown entertainment district

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ( KNWA/KFTA ) — A big portion of the nightlife in Fayetteville is centered around what’s happening on Dickson Street.

The strip of bars and restaurants occasionally deal with unruly — sometimes intoxicated — customers who require police intervention.

Abbi Moore, a general manager at JJ’s Grill on Dickson, said law enforcement response times are around five minutes, but Sgt. Stephen Mauk with the Fayetteville Police Department believes those numbers could decrease with the department’s new substation, which is set to open in a few weeks.

“This was another way in which we could provide increased response times, increased presence and also having another way for citizens to contact the police department,” Mauk said.

The new substation is located at 325 N. West Ave., Suite 160 — the ground level of the city’s West Avenue parking garage.

Mauk said this is a more permanent location than the police department previously operated out of.

He said previous locations through a partner landlord or building owner would have space for some bicycles and maybe a location for a single computer terminal.

The new location has a main lobby for the public to talk with someone from the department.

Inside where the department will operate, there are tables to serve as a squad room for both Dickson Street and parks and trails officers to work out of, multiple computers — which Mauk said will save officers time when filling out paperwork, as opposed to going back to a station — lockers and a room to store bicycles and other equipment.

Moore said the bars along the strip stay in close contact with one another when customers get kicked out.

“We have a group text with a bunch of different security people from the different bars, managers of the different bars,” Moore said. “We just keep each other on our toes.”

Moore said JJ’s Grill has to call the police on a customer about once a month, but she has a little more peace of mind knowing the substation is right around the corner and is set to join “our little fraternity” on Dickson Street.

“For the street as a whole, I think it’s amazing,” Moore said. “It’s going to help a lot of people and crack down on a lot of things before they get too bad.”

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