EL PASO COUNTY — El Paso County Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve $15 million in financing to build a new El Paso County Sheriff's Office substation.
It's a project that's been years in the making to serve a growing population in unincorporated parts of the county. The substation will be built across from Falcon Fire Station 1 near Stapleton Drive and North Meridian Road near Falcon.
Sheriff Joe Roybal said about half of the patrol division will work out of the building to better serve the northeast part of the county.
"We have a partial substation out east. But really, that's just a place for our deputies to take a break and write reports. This will be a full service substation," said Sheriff Roybal.
The sheriff's office said there has been a 25% increase in population in unincorporated El Paso County from 2010 to 2022. Along with the increase in residents, the sheriff's office said it has received an average of 50% more calls for service from 2010 to 2020 from those living in districts near the new substation.
“The need for this substation is long overdue," said Sheriff Roybal. “The county has outgrown, the population has increased.”
Sheriff Roybal said the new substation will eliminate travel time to the Sheriff's Office in downtown Colorado Springs for daily briefings and let deputies focus on responding to calls in the district. He said the northeastern substation will have two holding cells which will reduce the number of trips to the El Paso County Jail to book arrestees.
“That is time my deputy is out of service, not being able to provide service to the community," said Sheriff Roybal.
Financial roadblocks over the years have prevented the sheriff's office from moving forward with this project. Sheriff Roybal said his office has been unable to save enough money to pay for the building because of rising construction costs. Instead, the office will use a bond to purchase the building now rather than years down the road.
Sheriff Roybal said he hopes to have the substation up and running by the summer of 2025.
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