City officials hope to have the new George Washington Carver Homes Police Precinct fully functional by early June to further enhance the relationship between GWC residents and the Selma Police Department.

Selma Chief of Police William T. Riley said the new sub-station, which has the space to house seven officers, their workstations and a conference area, will benefit the entire community, not just those living in GWC.

“It helps push us out of our main building and more closely and deeply into the community,” Riley said. “The whole goal is to put a shift in there permanently. They’ll come into work, do their paperwork, leave work, the whole nine yards. So that’s the whole key, to constantly have a presence there.”

The initial plan was to house the precinct in an existing building that had been used as a community store, but renovation costs were deemed too high. The precinct will now be located in a renovated section of the GWC Homes Community Center.

Riley said he was grateful to the city and the Selma Housing Authority for finding the police department an existing building, within funding, to house on-duty police officers in the area.

“To have them offer that to us, it was an opportunity that we really couldn’t turn down,” he said. “To have a constant police presence in that part of the community is really going to benefit us all.”

Having a precinct housed in the community will also allow officers to respond to certain calls more quickly, Riley said, as well as provide safe public housing.

“Usually, when you have a police presence in an area or a mobile police presence in an area, you’ll see a decrease of crime and criminal activities,” he said. “That’s our goal, to decrease it and make the public feel as safe as possible.”

Ward 8 councilman Corey Bowie said he hoped the sub-station would reduce crime in the area and create a lasting bond between the residents and officers.

“Hopefully, the substation will bring safety,” Bowie said. “Safety is paramount in any residential area. I’m also hopeful that the police department and the residents can socialize and they can look at law enforcement as not just law enforcement, but their friends.”

Bowie said the sub-station would operate just like a normal police station, and would be a staple in the community for a long time to come.

“It’s going to be an asset not only for the GWC home residents, but also the community as a whole,” he said.

The Selma Housing Authority will hold a dedication ceremony for the precinct on Friday.