New Cornwall RCMP facility to house forensics lab, police dog services and holding cells

Construction is underway on a new RCMP district office next to the town hall in Cornwall, P.E.I. 

The building — which is scheduled to open in March 2024 — will serve as an operations base for Queens County RCMP.

Const. Gavin Moore says it will be much more than just an office for the force.

"This is not just a detachment that's being built here," Moore said. "This will house a lot of policing services that also serve the rest of the Island."

The building will cost the RCMP $18.5 million. About $700,000 of that was used to purchase the land, paid to the Town of Cornwall.

The current Queens County detachment has been located at 153 Maypoint Rd. for more than 20 years. Moore said that unlike that location, the new facility has been designed with police services in mind.

"Maypoint is a building that was not purpose-built for RCMP. So we've had to adapt to that space and use it as best we can," he said.

"We're glad that in this new building it can be designed right from the beginning."

More storage capacity, new holding cells

The 23,626-square-foot building will have space to store seized vehicles as well as police boats, ATVs and snow machines. It will also serve as the base for police dog and forensics identification services.

"This building will represent more of a collecting up of different resources that have been scattered around," Moore said.

"It's great to have that all under one roof and certainly when it comes to things like police dog services, forensic identification, there are economies there. When you're all under one roof, it's easier to work together."

The building will also include five cells for holding people who are under arrest. Four will be regular cells, which can be used in a variety of scenarios, and one will be a holding cell usually reserved for short-term use.

"It's very common for us to make multiple arrests on one file and have three or four people to have to interview that you want to keep separate, that you don't want them speaking to each other prior to being interviewed," Moore said.

"This provides that capacity here."

The current Maypoint detachment doesn't have space for holding cells. Instead, RCMP use cells at the provincial jail to hold people. 

New detachment a long time coming, councillor says

Cornwall town councillor Corey Frizzell once worked as a guard at the provincial jail. He said residents may be surprised to hear about the holding cells, but that he understands why the RCMP would want them.

"Logistically, it's a demand on the RCMP to have to bring people to the correctional centre for a short-term holding," Frizzell said.

"Having that service here should make it a little bit easier for them to do the rest of their work."

Frizzell said the new building has been a long time coming.

"It's certainly stretched back to since I was a kid in the Cornwall area, since the 1980s. So it's amazing to see it here almost completed," he said.

Services for a growing community

The town councillor said the construction is a sign of Cornwall's growth.

The 2021 census showed Cornwall was one of the fastest-growing communities of its size in the Atlantic region. The towns population grew to over 6,000 people in 2021.

Moore said the new detachment will serve as a base for the community for years to come.

As Cornwall and the surrounding areas grow, so too can this building.- Const. Gavin Moore

"I think all Islanders can see the growth of the Island as a whole and certainly larger centres like Cornwall are growing quickly. This provides an opportunity to optimize response to calls to be here," he said. 

"As Cornwall and the surrounding areas grow, so too can this building. It is expandable and we can add on as needed in the future if that becomes a requirement."