CATONSVILLE, Md. — A group of neighbors and business owners say a planned new building for the Wilkens Precinct in Baltimore County would make for a safer space for officers and the area they serve.
The Wilkens Police-Community Relations Organization called a news conference on Friday afternoon, renewing attention to the planned construction project, eight days after an officer was shot in the precinct parking lot in Catonsville.
"When people who are protecting us are getting hurt, something has to change. And it has to change quick," Joey Ambrose, owner of Ambrose Funeral Homes, about five minutes away from the precinct, told WMAR-2 News.
"I want to get this rebuilt, and get them a little more protection," Ambrose added.
Members of the community spoke on the police station's front lawn off Walker Avenue, steps away from the back parking lot of the Wilkins precinct, where an officer was shot last week.
"When you call 911, they come, when you need an officer to talk to they are there. We need to make sure we can protect those men and women that take care of our communities," Otis Collins, the WPCRO president, said at the news conference.
Plans for new precinct project in Catonsville receives support from neighbors
"I think that a new facility would make it easier for the police officers to do their job and to respond when we call them, and then they'd have a safe place to return to, and do the work they need to do to support us," said Craig Witzke, owner of Candlelight Funeral Home in Catonsville.
Police charged Andrew Britt, a 27-year-old Baltimore City teacher, with attempted first degree murder after he allegedly walked in and out of the lobby, pulled a gun on an officer who was pumping gas, exchanged gunfire and shot a different officer.
RELATED: Baltimore School teacher accused of shooting police officer had previous gun conviction
The still-unnamed officer left Shock Trauma in downtown Baltimore last weekend.
According to a county spokesperson, the aging Wilkens Precinct will be replaced with a $32 million, 34,000 square foot project with new safety, technology and energy-efficient features.
The county expects to break ground on it in January 2026, and the old building will be demolished when the new one is finished. The spokesperson told WMAR the start date was pushed back in the state's environmental review process, and the project is expected to be complete in 2028.
READ MORE: Baltimore County Police Officer shot in "premeditated" attack
