SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - Phoenix Police Headquarters Closure

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Send us a text and chime in!After more than 50 years of service, city leaders, staff, and current and former police officers gathered to formally close the Phoenix Police Department’s longtime headquarters at 620 West Washington Street. The building originally opened in 1975 under the leadership of Police Chief Lawrence Wetzel, the first in a line of chiefs who would shape the department from within its concrete walls. Over the decades that followed, 11 additional police chiefs — including acting and interim leaders — worked from the building, guiding Phoenix policing through periods of rapid growth, shifting demands and significant change. “620 was more than a...   For the written story, read here >> https://www.signalsaz.com/articles/phoenix-police-headquarters-closure/ Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Text-to-speech audio articles made possible on the Cast11.com podcast network by Fane Signature Group. After more than 50 years of service, city leaders, staff, and current and former police officers gathered to formally close the Phoenix Police Department's longtime headquarters at 620 West Washington Street. The building originally opened in 1975 under the leadership of police chief Lawrence Wetzel, the first in a line of chiefs who would shape the department from within its concrete walls. Over the decades that followed, 11 additional police chiefs, including acting and interim leaders, worked from the building, guiding Phoenix policing through periods of rapid growth, shifting demands and significant change.

620 was more than a headquarters. It was a cornerstone of our work and our identity. I first walked into this building as an applicant, hoping for the chance to serve like hundreds of others. Now, as we move forward we all carry the foundation this building gave us, its history, its lessons and its spirit, police chief Matthew Giordano said. During its half-century of operation, the headquarters housed the chief's staff, investigative bureaus, ballistics and crime labs, interrogation rooms and other units central to daily police work. Generations of officers came through its doors, starting their careers, solving cases and carrying out the work of public safety in one of the nation's fastest growing cities. The facility formally closed under Chief

Giordano in 2026, marking the end of a building that had not only supported the department but helped define its identity. During the decommissioning ceremony, city leaders presented the Phoenix Police Museum with the building's original Phoenix Police headquarters sign that adorned the front of the building, a relic that greeted officers, visitors and employees for decades. As a final tribute, Phoenix Police Reserve Commander Henry Cousone placed a chain and lock on the front door, a symbolic gesture made more poignant by the fact that he the longest standing peace officer in the state of Arizona and was serving as an officer when 621st became headquarters. His act, witnessed by colleagues past and present, sealed the building that had shaped generations of policing

and countless personal stories over more than five decades. Read more stories from the Phoenix area on signalsaws.com. Subscribe and be the F-1 RST2 know.