Washington Police continues its community outreach with the opening this week of a substation on West Ninth Street.

On Tuesday, the public is invited to attend a grand opening of the substation from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Officers will be on duty to meet neighbors and give people a tour of the new station — a repurposing of the old Washington Housing Authority building at 204 W. Ninth St. WHA has moved to its new location on Pennsylvania Avenue.

According to Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford, the station will be manned by several officers Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is an extension of an ongoing transition to a community-based force.

“The purpose is to get us out in the community to be more involved — to continue what we’ve been striving for, (which) is to be more visible in the community we serve,” Drakeford said.

Drakeford said creating a substation in the area is less about creating a crime deterrent and more about building a crime prevention mechanism — a throwback to neighborhood policing.

The building will also serve as an extension of the West Third Street station, and affords the department room for officer training seminars, as well as a conference room for Community Watch meetings.

For officers of WPD, the invitation to see the new place is an opportunity to further bridge gaps between police and those they serve.

“We have to continue to realize that this substation, or the police department, is for all the citizens of Washington,” Drakeford said. “Anytime we can all get together, then we have a better understanding of each other.”