What you need to know about Indio’s new Public Safety Campus

The City of Indio held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Indio Public Safety Campus Wednesday morning.

According to the city, the state-of-the-art facility is designed to enhance safety and emergency response capabilities for the community.

The $50 million campus took two years to build, and the city says it represents a significant investment in the safety and security for Indio's residents. The facility will house cutting-edge technology and resources to make sure emergency responders can continue to providing swift, coordinated, and effective responses to emergencies.

"As our city grows, so does the need for a robust public safety system,” said Indio Police Chief Brian Tully. “This enhanced Public Safety Campus equips us to handle current challenges and prepares us for the future, ensuring that we continue to meet the highest standards of public safety."

The Indio Public Safety Campus is approximately 43,000 square feet, and will consist of three separate buildings.

· A 13,500 square foot new Indio Fire Station

· A new 7,000-square-foot dispatch center

· A 22,000-square-foot public safety service building

No detail was overlooked, according to Tully. It has special designs to improve the mental health and work environment for dispatchers.

"Everything from the blue paint on the walls, to the offices and the way the walls absorb the sound," said Tully. "It doesn't echo in there. You can actually be able to think and work while you're handling calls on the telephone or or dealing with the officers out on patrol."

According to local authorities, the new facility will improve the already above average response times.

"Response times can definitely improve with this new training facility," said John Clingingsmith Jr., the PIO of Riverside County Fire Department. "This gives them the ability to train locally, so that way, units aren't having to backfill behind each other or cover multiple jurisdictions while other units are training."

The brand new facility will house the previous equipment and more.

"It is large enough for a ladder truck, an engine, an ambulance, the living quarters, the kitchen," said Clingingsmith Jr. "Everything is brand new for the crews that will be working out of the are. There is room for future growth, for training opportunities such as a fire training tower.”

Tully agrees.

"Currently, we are providing emergency call response times of under under five minutes. But as you know, the footprint provides easier access," explained Tully. "The equipment that we have now provides a faster response with the dispatch center and the technology in that dispatch center."

Phase two of the Public Safety Campus is currently underway in the design phase and expected to go to bid in Summer 2025. Construction is anticipated to begin Fall 2025.

News Channel Three has followed this story very closely, and has covered several city council meetings involving its development.

Despite some setbacks and confusion with the project, Tully says Phase two will consist of a Police Department Headquarters using a separate $40,000,000 in funding.

"The infrastructure cost of our existing building to to bring it up to code and bring it up to standard was going to cost about $5 million," said Tully. "So instead of putting it into the existing building, the city set the project aside and then sought out additional funding. We are dealing with the same architect and the same builders that did phase one, so the process should be shorter and should get completed sooner."