The Guam Police Department marked progress on a long-delayed Guam Police Department evidence facility project in the village of Yigo, citing cost savings, modernization and long-term public safety benefits.
Officials said the project, first funded in 2015, stalled for several years due to permitting, land use and procurement challenges. Movement resumed under the current administration after a review of inactive capital projects, they said.
According to remarks delivered at the site, GPD has spent approximately $3.1 million since 2016 on rent for an evidence facility on Bello Road that the department does not own. The new project is intended to eliminate those rental costs.
The planned facility will be a 10,000-square-foot, modern evidence storage building designed to improve the handling and preservation of police evidence, including homicide, sexual assault and other major crime evidence. Officials emphasized that such evidence has no statute of limitations and must be preserved to maintain integrity for arrests and prosecutions.
The project faced early setbacks, including delays in federal permitting, the need to relocate thousands of tires from an initial site, and a first procurement that drew no responsive bidders. Officials said the site was relocated within the same property after coordination with land management agencies, and the project moved forward after a second bid process yielded a contractor.
The facility will also allow GPD to transition from a manual evidence tracking system to barcoding and modern inventory technology, replacing reliance on file cabinets and institutional knowledge.
Officials said the site may also support future plans for a Yigo police precinct as population growth continues in northern Guam.