Swampscott ramping up accessibility to station

SWAMPSCOTT – Work is under way to make at least a portion of the police station handicapped accessible.Department of Public Works (DPW) crews were doing grading work in front of the station on Tuesday afternoon.DPW Director Gino Cresta said he expects the ramp will be complete by the end of the month.”The Chief (Ronald Madigan) ordered a steel handicapped ramp,” Cresta said. “We (DPW) leveled off the area in front of (the) police station and put a new wall up so we can add a couple of parking spaces in front of the station. One of those parking spots will be handicapped accessible.”The lack of handicapped accessibility at the police station has been an issue for years.Earlier this year, resident Tom Smith, 21, who relies on a wheelchair to get around, went to the police station on business and was unable to get into the station because it is not handicapped accessible.Smith, who is trying to come back from a paralyzing hockey injury, sat in his wheelchair in the parking lot and yelled until an officer came out to assist him.”This is a step in the right direction for the town,” Smith said. “It’s nice to see the town recognizes there are accessibility issues in town. I’m happy that if someone had an emergency they could at least get inside and notify the officer at the window but a ramp will not bring the police station into ADA compliance. The bathrooms are not handicapped accessible, there are offices handicapped people can’t get into and I could never get downstairs.”The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires handicapped access to public buildings and the ramp, which is expected to cost $10,000, is being paid for with capital improvement funds authorized by Town Meeting.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said the ramp is a cost-effective short-term solution, which would allow access to at least one level in the police station.”We wanted to solve the problem of lack of access,” he said. “But we also realize we (police department) won’t be operating out of there forever. This is a temporary fix that will last a few years and allow access to part of the building.”Police Chief Ronald Madigan said the ramp is a step in the right direction but there is much more to be done to comply with ADA.”I sincerely believe the station should be accessible to all members of the public,” he said. “That is one of the reasons I was pushing so hard for a new police station. The bathrooms aren’t accessible, the cells aren’t accessible and some of the offices aren’t accessible.”Madigan said when prisoners are brought into the station they are taken through areas open to the public and escorted down two flights of narrow stairs to the cells, which is problematic when the person being detained is in a wheelchair.”We had an incident in July,” Madigan said. “We had a prisoner in custody, who was wanted in connection with a shooting in Lynn. He was in a wheelchair so we couldn’t get him to the holding cells. We had to station a guard with him in an area that was accessible by the public.”Smith said the July arrest highlights the need for a station that is totally accessible.”It’s pathetic,” Smith said. “The town is putting its officers and the general public in danger because it does not have the facilities needed to detain someone properly.”