A clear front-runner is emerging as the location for a new facility for the Bainbridge Island Police Department.

City council members decided last week to further investigate a 1.89-acre property on NE New Brooklyn Road as the preferred site for the new public safety building.

The location is a popular choice for some; the recent survey featuring the sites under consideration found that 70 percent of those polled “completely agreed” the New Brooklyn location was an appropriate location for police headquarters.

The sample size wasn’t great, with just 103 people taking the survey (and only 76 complete responses).

Even so, the New Brooklyn site was the most popular, followed by the existing location in downtown.

We’ve always preferred the downtown location; perhaps because we’re always inclined to root for the underdog. It’s no secret that the city has expended much energy in recent years in finding flaws with the current location and greatly desires a site where the prospect of development headaches are much more limited, including the issue of relocation of the police department while their new home is built.

Part of our fondness for the current location, which is a site not much smaller than the New Brooklyn one, is that it’s already owned by the city, is a vital piece of prime downtown real estate that should stay in public ownership, and has unparalleled access to Highway 305.

Still, we’re willing to give the New Brooklyn location a good look-over.

It, too, will have better access to Highway 305 than some of the other sites considered by the city.

That said, the site is not perfect. All access to the police station will be via New Brooklyn — not good — and the facility will need to be crammed onto the property in such a way that buffers will have to be reduced.

Those issues are not deal-breakers, however.

Now, the city will move forward with obtaining a detailed cost assessment for the site. We’ll wait to see if the potential price tag makes the current location the better choice, after all.