Saugus police substation still a go for mall

SAUGUS – The sign is up but the doors have yet to open at the Square One Mall’s new community policing substation.Saugus Police in October announced they would open a substation at the mall by December. While it has been slightly delayed, Police Lt. Michael Annese said Friday those plans are still on track.”Community Policing thinks it will be getting off the ground in January,” he said. “The problem we’re going to have is manpower.”Annese said the substation will most likely be manned through overtime and, since all the officers agree it’s an important resource, Annese doesn’t think there will be a problem filling the shifts.Gangs and shoplifters have plagued the mall for years.Annese said the substation would contain a booking room so suspects picked up within the mall can be dealt with right there. It also alleviates the need for officers on duty out of headquarters to cover the mall, since there will be officers already on duty.”It does give us flexibility because we would be able to book right from there,” Annese said.But the question remains what will happen once the overtime budget runs dry.Annese said the mall initially offered to pay to hire an officer, but unfortunately it was not that simple. Instead, the mall offered to fund overtime to man the substation, which Annese said could still happen.”It will be a good thing when it opens,” Annese said. “It will go a long way towards keeping things peaceful.”