Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton bills the new $400 million, 10-story police headquarters the most expensive, state-of-the-art such facility in the U.S. reports the Los Angeles Times. Visitors to the building, which was dedicated Saturday, will have limited access – mostly to a police commission hearing room on the first floor and a basement room where they can pick up police reports, reports Southern California Public Radio.
You need a security keycard to open almost every hallway door. There's a specially built top secret room for secure communications with federal agencies or to view national secrets. There will be 2,300 sworn and civilian police department employees working in the building. It's already at capacity. There's a fitness center and locker rooms, storage for weapons, and interrogation rooms for the Robbery Homicide Division, plus a 400-seat auditorium in a separae building. The LAPD, always media savvy, also built a fully equipped television studio with cables that run to the street so local and national TV live trucks can transmit the images.