The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station may receive $1 million for a new mobile command center if an appropriations package including more than $3 million in local law enforcement and public safety funds passes the Senate.
The package, which passed the House last week, also includes approximately $1 million for the Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Clubs’ Opioid and Substance Use Prevention Initiative.
That’s according to a news release issued Wednesday from the office of Rep. George Whitesides, D-Agua Dulce. In the release, Whitesides said he was “proud to advocate for important community projects.”
The new sheriff’s mobile command center is not the one that received $1.5 million in funds from a combination of state budget, federal and miscellaneous grant funds in 2023 and was unveiled in Santa Clarita in October – that one belongs to the city, said Capt. Brandon Barclay of the SCV Sheriff’s Station. While sheriff’s deputies collaborate with that command center, it’s for city personnel use, Barclay said.
“It’s important for each entity to have its own base camp,” Barclay said. “And then you’ll have a centralized meeting, all those personnel can gather … within their own individual units … report to command staff, and then command staff will go to the (central) meeting.”
The city of Santa Clarita, which does not have its own police department, contracts with the county for law enforcement services via the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
The new command center would be used by SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies during emergencies before turning over operations to the LASD’s Emergency Operations Bureau, Barclay said. Mobile command centers are used, in part, to coordinate with other first responder agencies, such as the California Highway Patrol and the Red Cross, during major emergencies.
Barclay said that the old command center has been with the station since he joined the station in 2015 and is sorely in need of technology upgrades.
“While I can still get the job done with that, it would be nice to have a new and improved model with advanced technology,” Barclay said.
The new command center will have satellite and 5G LTE internet, secure networks with encryption and firewalls, artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities and real-time drone and bodycam feeds, Barclay said.
Other funds covered in the appropriations bill, referred to as the CJS-Interior-Energy and Water appropriations package in Whitesides’ release, include the funding for the Boys & Girls Clubs’ opioid and substance use prevention program.
In the release from Whitesides’ office, Matthew Nelson, CEO of the SCV Boys & Girls Club, and Jay Duke, CEO of the Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Club, jointly expressed their gratitude to the congressman for his support.
“The Opioid & Substance Use Prevention Initiative will allow the Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Clubs to reach young people early with education, mentorship, and supportive programming that reduces risk before it becomes a crisis,” said the joint prepared statement from the two clubs’ CEOs. “This funding represents a proactive approach to public safety — one that strengthens families, empowers youth, and builds healthier, safer communities for the long term.”
“These funds reflect the real public safety priorities of our communities,” Whitesides said in the release. “I’ll continue working to make sure federal resources are used responsibly to support local partners, protect families, and build safer, more resilient communities across our district.”
