City and Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials shared an update Friday on the status of the new state-of-the-art home for deputies that is set to complete in mid-May, a $67.3 million facility designed to make local law enforcement’s efforts as seamless and consolidated as possible, according to Ross Pistone, project manager for the construction.
Perched atop an 11.8-acre plot on Golden Valley Road, the lot currently uses 7.6 acres, leaving room to expand to fulfill future needs, but the biggest appeal for Sheriff’s Station Capt. Justin Diez seemed to be how the new area would bring all of his resources closer, which should not only help with communication, but response time, as well, he said Friday.
“It’s been thought out to almost every component that you can imagine,” Pistone said as he led a tour with members of the media and city communications staff, “and working directly with the Sheriff’s Department on their needs.”
It also was pointed out on more than one occasion during the tour that the current station on McBean Parkway was built in 1972, which means that as the demands on local law enforcement have grown over the last 50 years, the station has created work-arounds and ad hoc systems to accommodate its needs, such as housing the station’s detectives and off-road vehicles at various locations off-site.
Even the helicopter pad at the new station is part of the upgrades, as the helipad on the current station’s roof isn’t equipped to handle a Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma, which is part of the L.A. County emergency-response fleet.
In addition to a more central location with respect to the future of SCV growth, the new station won’t have to worry about the effects of a Public Safety Power Shutoff — it boasts a 1,000-kilowatt diesel generator, which is a couple hundred times more powerful than the average store-bought model, and capable of running at full capacity for about three days before it needs more fuel.
“As you can imagine, in any business, it’s all about communication … working together,” Diez said Friday, explaining how the new setup can improve operations. “And currently at our station, we’ve got people spread out everywhere — some are in the station, some are off-site, some are in trailers in the parking lot … (The new station) is going to put everybody under one roof.”
Construction on the station is expected to be completed by May 17, barring any unforeseen delay. Diez said Friday he anticipates the moving process to take approximately three weeks once the construction is complete, which would put deputies on patrol from the new station sometime in June.
