New Sheriff’s Station Opens This Week

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will shift its base of operations for the eastern Coachella Valley next week from Indio to a new station at the Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport west of Thermal, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

The Thermal patrol station will open to the public at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

It replaces the Indio station at 86-695 Doctor Carreon Blvd., which will permanently close its lobby at 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to sheriff’s Lt. Jim Armstrong.

The public lobby at the new station, at 86-625 Airport Blvd., will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and the non-emergency number will remain (760) 863-8990, Armstrong said.

The new facility will also house a Forensics Bureau office and an aviation hangar, he said.

“The Thermal station will continue to serve the unincorporated communities of the eastern Coachella Valley, as well as the cities of La Quinta and Coachella,” Armstrong said. “Both of these cities’ police operations will be fully operational out of the new Thermal facility.”