After just celebrating their 130th anniversary on July 12, the Brandon Police Service are nearly ready to take the next step in the history of their Brandon operations, as later this month they will be ready to move in to the new police station on Victoria Avenue.
The BPS started in 1882, with their first location being shared with the original Fire Department in the old Central Fire Hall. Shortly thereafter, a new fire hall was built and the police force moved to the old city hall in approximately 1917, which was located roughly where Princess Park can be found today, occupying only a few of the rooms in the building. They remained at that location until 1938, when they moved yet again, this time across the street from the old fire hall into a building formerly called McDiarmid Door and Sash. Co-op purchased that building and property in 1966, and the BPS moved into the old YMCA building, located basically were the current YMCA is.
In roughly 1971, the new city hall was erected and the BPS moved into the basement. That remained their home base for only a few years, when the BPS took over what was formerly the Assiniboine Centre in 1975. This is where they currently reside.
“The current building was designed as a hospital, and though we have gone through several renovations and upgrades, it’s always been cramped for what we need,” said Officer Ed Conway.
“The new building can fit two of this current building and then some inside. It’s going to be great to have so much more space.”
Now, after 130 years of cramped and ill-suited space, the Brandon Police Service will be finally getting the space they need, as they plan to ‘officially’ move in to the new station on Victoria Avenue on July 23.

Members of the police force started offering public tours last week, and will also hold tours Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. and again from 1 p.m. till 3 p.m., and Thursday at the same times this week.
From the moment you step through the front door, the upgrades are very apparent. The reception area is huge, compared to the old building, and brightly coloured with an elevated reception desk and plenty of waiting room. Adjacent to the reception area, a large multi-purpose room is available for more public activities, so civilians won’t need special passes and escorts to attend, like they do in the current station.
One of the more interesting features of the station is the large percentage of walls being made of special DIRTT (Doing It Right This Time) wall panels. The DIRTT panels are essentially movable, re-arrangeable walls, allowing fluctuation in room dimensions if need be.
A special feature for officers that is not often thought of is the huge increase in bathroom availability. Previously, there were only two bathrooms for each gender, but the new station has twice as many, which was a very necessary ‘quality of life’ change for officers and civilian workers. The building also features eco-friendly water bottle filling stations, and is surprisingly colourful, boasting bright orange, green and yellow walls to keep the station looking bright and cheerful.
Further into the station, much larger boardroom areas can be found. This will allow much more efficient meetings and briefings for officers that were formerly cramped into ‘standing room only’ areas.
To help save some money, cubicles in the court services and criminal records department were brought in used from the old Convergys building, offering abundant workspace alongside the massive file storage area. Storage for everything has been hugely increased for everything from officer’s equipment to old police records and evidence.
The security of the new station has also undergone a massive upgrade. The current station only has two closed-circuit security cameras, while the new station features 38. Currently, the station only has four holding rooms, while the new station has nine, all with special ‘Presence’ buttons that turn on a light and keep track when a room is currently occupied.
In the holding area, the new ‘Sally Port,’ the area where arrests are processed and personal belongings are held, is much more strategically placed. Currently arrests are in a very public area of the police station, leading to unnecessary embarrassment by certain parties. Now it is tucked away in the back; people under arrest are able to enter the station through a back entrance with the officers and can be processed away from public eyes.
The new station also features two proper ‘Data Master Rooms.’ These rooms are used to collect samples, such as breathalyzer samples from drunk drivers. At the old station, their Data Master room was literally a storage closet, but now the two rooms are much larger and properly ventilated, causing less error in the test results from outside sources. The new station also has room for stolen vehicle storage, while currently they are being kept at MPI, which officers claim is not ideal at all.
The station boasts plenty of room for all 80 officers and between 30-50 civilian staff.
The upstairs of the station holds offices for the K-9 units, while the basement features a gymnasium and workout area for police staff use.
The new police station is an excellent addition to the Brandon Police Service, and will allow them to stay effective in Brandon up to a population of 65,000.
Thanks to help from Tom Mitchell, Jack Stothard, Daly House Museum, and Ed Conway from the BPS for help finding location on the previous police stations.