FREDERICKTOWN — The Fredericktown Police Department is opening its doors to help out needy community members as frigid temperatures continue to hold the country in sway.
A post appeared on Facebook on Jan. 2 with the announcement that meeting rooms at the police department have been opened to assist the community if they were dealing with no heat or frozen water.
“One end of the building is the police department end of it and the other end of the building is kind of like a community center where there are four meeting rooms of different sizes,” explained police chief Roger Brown. “The facilities are there, the heat’s on, some of the lights are going to be on – why not open it up to the taxpayers in the village or outside the village if they have no water, no heat, need a place to go.”
Brown said it was all a part of the police department building its community relations.
“It really don’t cost the village any more money and the public owns this building. It’s kind of the way we looked at it,” Brown added. “I do the same thing when we have bad weather. We put in a standby generator three, four years ago. There’s been times the electric goes out, water’s down here in the village, whatever. We’ll do the same thing – just leave the door open out there in that end of the building and let them come and go as they wish.”
Anyone needing a place to stay warm can visit the Fredericktown Police Department at 182 S. Main St. The warming center will remain open until the weather warms up, though Brown said he won’t turn away people if they still need it after that.
“All they have to do is get a hold of us. We’ll let them in,” Brown said. “It’s not an issue.”
In the case that no one is available at the police department, Brown said there is a phone in the lobby that will give a person the direct line to the 911 dispatch center, which will then notify members of the Fredericktown Police Department. Brown noted that the offices are covered 24/7, which means community members can seek shelter any time of the day or night.
