EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — The El Paso County Sheriff's Office broke ground on its new substation near Falcon on Friday morning after years of dramatic growth in unincorporated parts of the county.
The planned substation on Royal County Down Road will be the first full-service substation for the sheriff's office. Sheriff Joe Roybal said the new building is "long overdue," as calls for service to unincorporated parts of the county have increased nearly 50% over the last decade.
"Right now, 100% of patrol division works out of downtown Colorado Springs, so once they leave Colorado Springs, it takes upwards of 35 minutes to get to our area of coverage. And for me, that's just a waste of time," said Sheriff Roybal.
Sheriff Roybal said at least half of his patrol staff, or about 40 deputies, will work out of the new substation. He said the new building will also have holding cells to cut down the time deputies spend transporting people to the El Paso County Jail.
"If a deputy arrests somebody, it takes 35 to 40 minutes to take that person to jail," he said. "What this substation will do is, if an arrest is made or someone is detained, they come to the substation, process them here, and then get back out district."
News5 asked the sheriff's office for response time data to understand the average time it takes deputies to respond to calls for service in unincorporated parts of the county. The sheriff's office said it does not know the office's response times because of software calculation errors.
Paul Mauritz, a Falcon resident, said he's happy there will be a larger law enforcement presence near his home.
“I think it’s going to be neat because I think the presence will bring crime down. I think the response times will be quicker," he said. “And just to get to know them [the deputies] and to know that they’re there for us. That’s a good feeling. And it brings a lot of peace to people.”
The new substation is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
In April 2024, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners approved $15 million in financing for the substation. Sheriff Roybal said revenue from the county's voter-approved public safety tax will fund the substation.
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