[Source: Michael Ferraresi, azcental.com’s PHXBeat]
Phoenix police are working with city staff to see if a recently-vacated building on Jefferson Street downtown could permanently house the city’s internal-affairs detectives.
The city-owned Barrister Building at 101 S. Central Ave. served for years as home to some Public Works Department staff and the Phoenix Employment Relations Board, in addition to other city offices, prior to this summer’s exodus.
Phoenix Public Works shuttered the building and moved staff to new facilities to cut down on energy expenses and other costs. Staff said the plan is to explore economic development opportunities with private businesses, though the police department asked for a separate review.
Phoenix pays around $300,000 annually to house the police department’s Professional Standards Bureau at a private building near Monroe Street and First Avenue downtown, according to an August e-mail Executive Assistant Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner wrote in an e-mail to city staff.
Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump said the savings “is not going to be anywhere near that number,” though the police and public works departments recently began collecting information about possible cost savings by moving detectives and other staff into the Barrister Building.
Eventually, a cost analysis and projections for long-term savings by moving detectives will be presented to City Council, Crump said.
Barrister was previously known as the Jefferson Hotel. Scenes from Alfred Hitchcock‘s 1960 thrilled, “Psycho,” were shot there.
The Phoenix Police Museum, run by a non-profit group, will remain at the Barrister Building.
The Professional Standards Bureau was moved to a private facility, off police department premises, years ago to provide citizens with an off-site location to contact detectives with complaints about police misconduct.
Downtown Voices Coalition 
That building is gorgeous.