Tentative Agreement In Place For City’s First COP House

ST. CLOUD -- St. Cloud's first Community Outpost (COP) House is set to become reality.

The Greater St. Cloud Public Safety Foundation has a tentative agreement in place to buy a house located at 600 13th Street South, near St. Cloud State University.

St. Cloud Police Lieutenant Lori Ellering says they've been working with SCSU and the city for about two years to set up a community police team in that neighborhood to help increase public safety.

"The south side neighborhood is a very vibrant and diverse neighborhood, but we do have a lot of crime in that area. We thought this would be a great way to get into the community and provide proactive policing services to make that neighborhood great," says Ellering.

The COP House works as a home base for officers in areas where police calls are high, in hopes of turning around troubled neighborhoods.

Ellering says the officers won't actually live in the house, but instead use it as an office and community space for several programs and services.

"We're talking right now with a variety of different community services to figure out with the community what services are needed down there," says Ellering.

Ellering says they hope to close on the property by the end of the month. From there, volunteers plan to tear down the building and build a new facility.

The new COP House hopes to be completed this Spring or Summer.