The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department held the grand opening ceremony of the Pitchess Detention Center Emergency Vehicle Operations Center on Monday, March 21, 2022.

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva cut the ribbon to mark the official opening of the training facility.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved funding for the project on Feb. 4, 2020. The L.A. County Department of Public Works was responsible for construction of the project and utilized the design-build-contracting method to save time and money. The project was delivered three months ahead of schedule and under budget.

The project consists of a vehicle driving/training track, skid pan, new modular office/locker rooms, collision avoidance and pursuit track, track appurtenances, paved parking area, bioswales and landscaping. The project also involved relocation of Southern California Edison power lines and various facility power poles. The overall site area for the training area encompasses approximately 44.5 acres.

In addition to the new training facility, the Sheriff’s Department will continue operating a similar center at the Pomona Fairgrounds. The Sheriff’s Department has used the Pomona Fairgrounds property for more than 35 years to provide training in emergency vehicle operations to deputy sheriff trainees and police officers enrolled in the department’s training academy, in addition to ongoing mandated emergency vehicle operations training for sworn personnel.

The current arrangement with the Pomona Fairplex Association requires the operations center office to cease operations for approximately two to three months per year for major events, such as the L.A. County Fair, swap meets, drag races, etc. With the new facility at Pitchess, these disruptions to the training schedule will no longer be a challenge, said a Sheriff’s Department official.