Officers and volunteers are settling in at the Bellevue Police Department’s new Crossroads Substation, after having to change locations after 20 years this month to make way for a Jamba Juice in the mall.

“The mall, it was like-for-like, so they did the buildout,” said Lt. Travis Forbush, who supervises the city’s police substations. “It’s much bigger, actually.”

The new substation, located next to Crunch Fitness in the Crossroads Mall, provides more workspace to conduct interviews and organize community events like National Night Out, Forbush said, though visibility has been reduced since moving from its site facing 156th Avenue Northeast. He added the mall has plans for directional signage to ease that concern.

“Hopefully we maintain higher traffic for the community,” Forbush said.

Bellevue Police Ofc. Craig Hanaumi, who handles community outreach from the Crossroads substation, told the Reporter in February the new location is closer to the Crossroads Community Center, where the BPD offers self-defense classes and takes calls related to incidences at nearby parks. He added Crunch Fitness and Stone Gardens will benefit from the substation’s presence, as that area has a higher concentration of calls for vehicle prowls.

“It’s his house,” said Forbush of Hanaumi’s efforts at the substation. “Hopefully it benefits him and the work he’s doing.”