Partially hidden behind crime scene barriers at the Gungahlin Joint Emergency Services Centre, and not very discreetly, is the Australian Federal Police's newest amenity: a portaloo.
And as one observer pointed out: "Well, at least it's a police-themed blue-and-white portaloo."
As the embarrassing closure of the Gungahlin JESC stretched into its second week, ACT police officers continued to work out of a truck parked outside, helping members of the public with inquiries, taking reports and signing off those reporting for bail.
Then finally, on Friday, police - to collective relief - they received their own portaloo where they can change for work and perform ablutions.
Firefighters, paramedics and police were moved out of their Gungahlin base on February 29 after lead dust and diesel particulates were found in a ceiling cavity during renovations.
Opened in 1998, the shared facility has been used to park up the ESA's diesel-powered trucks in a huge garage since then.
Police have been squashed into one part of the building, doing 24-hour shifts, since 2009 as all around them, Gungahlin just kept growing, received its own tram line, and is now home to some 87,500 people.
The Gungahlin facility is the latest ACT government-owned police premises to be fully or partially vacated in the past month.
Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan ordered all the ground floor staff, bar the front office and watch house officers, out of the heritage-listed City Police Station on London Circuit last month due to ongoing water leaks. There are now unverified reports that asbestos has been found in the building.
The City station was "not fit for purpose", he declared.
Those city patrol officers whose muster room and lockers were at the back of the building were sent across to the roomy federal police headquarters at Barton where they could enjoy the luxury of a hot shower after a long night shift, somewhere to change out of uniform, and proper lockers for their firearms and other equipment.
Not so the officers rostered for "front office" duties at Gungahlin.
They are working out of a truck parked on the building forecourt. The balance of the sworn staff were relocated to the old Traffic Operations Centre in Lathlain Street, Belconnen which, ironically, had previously been closed down because of water leaks.
The ACT government says it is "currently awaiting results from testing of suspected contaminated materials" extracted from the Gungahlin JESC.
"These results will inform our decision regarding any remediation work and re-occupancy of the building. Staff will be notified of the test results once available," a Justice and Community Safety directorate spokesperson said.
But the federal police association, which represents the rank and file federal and ACT police officers, is demanding that WorkSafe ACT become involved and has requested a "full safety audit" at all ACT Policing facilities "to ensure they are safe for our members".
It wants a full decontamination of the building, together with a WorkSafe inspection and a separate one by "an independent body not associated with the ACT government".
The Belco Party's Jason Taylor, a former serving ACT police sergeant who worked at Gungahlin, empathised with the plight of his former colleagues and described the current arrangements as "shameful" and should "never have been agreed to by the ACT Policing executive".
He said using the command truck as a temporary office exposed the few officers working there to risk as there were no proper emergency exits, no proper CCTV coverage, and no physical barriers.
"Why weren't other more obvious alternatives explored?" Mr Taylor said.
"For instance, why weren't Gungahlin members moved to the Exhibit Management Centre in Mitchell? And why not have a temporary facility at the Access Canberra building in the Gungahlin Town Centre operate as a front office. Anything is better than what they [JACS] have actually done."
