Board OKs final budget for Sheriff’s new desert dispatch center

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - The Board of Supervisors today approved the final budget for an upgraded dispatch center focused on Riverside County Sheriff's Department operations in the Coachella Valley.

In a 5-0 vote without comment Tuesday, the board authorized the department to use $3.3 million in redevelopment agency funds to total out the spending blueprint for the Palm Desert Station Expansion Project at $17.81 million.

``Dispatch communication centers are staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,'' according to a sheriff's statement posted to the board's agenda.``The sheriff has two communication centers: Central Dispatch in Riverside, and the Coachella Valley Dispatch Center, located in Palm Desert.''

In 2023, supervisors approved $8.5 million in countywide development impact fee revenue for the expansion project, followed by an additional $4.5 million in DIF money appropriated in October 2025.

The remodeled dispatch center will create sufficient space to accommodate 911 personnel and east county patrol teams at 73705 Gerald Ford Drive, where a sheriff's facility has existed since February 1991.

They're conducting operations out of a rented building on Fred Waring Drive for now.

The expansion is slated for completion in the current fiscal year.