MONTVILLE, Conn. (WTNH) — Lt. Dave Radford showed News8 around the public safety building in Montville.

“We have our own armory here,” said Lt. Radford. “I can show you our evidence area.”

It has state-of-the-art equipment for processing evidence and storing it, but the two-way pass-through storage system has never been used. Neither have the six holding cells.

Anyone in custody and any evidence is brought to the state police barracks because the town is part of the resident state trooper program.

“It would be nice to be able to use these facilities as they’ve been designed to be used,” said Lt. Radford.

He is hoping Tuesday night’s vote by the town council opens that door.

“The ordinance calls for creating a chief of police position and that would get us out of the resident trooper program,” said Town Councilor Robert Yuchniuk, (R) Montville.

The move to an independent police department got overwhelming support from residents at a public hearing in Montville last week.

“We need to hire a police chief that’s accountable to the town, not a state police officer who’s accountable to the state police bosses,” said Yuchniuk.

The town would also need to hire another dispatcher but no longer have to pay the state a quarter of a million dollars for the resident state trooper program.

When they built the public safety building nine years ago they tried to think of everything. All of the cells are handicapped accessible and one also has a shower in it.

“We are set up for the future, hopefully soon,” said Lt. Radford.

The town council passed a unanimous motion on Tuesday night to make an independent police department for the town of Montville.

If no one files a petition against the council’s vote within twenty days that future could soon be here.