New $110 million OC Sheriff Technology Center opens in Tustin – Orange County Register

Staff work in the Real-Time Operations Center at the OC Sheriff’s Technology Center in Tustin, Calif., on Thursday, June 27, 2024. The 120,000-square-foot facility will bring three divisions under one roof. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Orange County Sheriff's Department unveiled its new $110 million technology center Thursday morning, a one-stop shop for its communications and technology operations.

Located in Tustin, the center includes a real-time communications section, counterterrorism center, media briefing room, collaborative office spaces for interns and developers, and a mechanics area for police vehicles.

“We are leading a culture change in how we use technology, and I look forward to seeing solutions focused on preventing crime, solving cases and improving the quality of life for our residents” , said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes.

The department will now be able, Barnes said, to “synergize technologies that weren’t necessarily available before.”

All dispatch, emergency communications, federal crime partnerships and hazard detection services will be managed solely from this new center.

The center also consolidates three OCSD divisions (technology, operational support and intelligence, and special operations) under one roof. This will “strengthen our ability to protect our community,” Barnes said.

“All of this has been integrated into one place, with the goal of increasing the efficiency of our operations,” Barnes said. “This allows us to gain insights into our results and respond immediately to incidents that occur in real time.”

One of the new features offered by the technology center is the ability for law enforcement to “tap” public and private cameras — from the department’s partner entities — throughout the county.

Through an interface called Fusus, the sheriff’s department will be able to connect to cameras from any partner city, school or private business to properly assess a potential crime or emergency situation. To be part of the program, a business or city must have Fusus technology, OCSD spokeswoman Jaimee Blashaw said. Once permissions are granted by both parties, OCSD can access and use the cameras when needed.

For example, in the event of an emergency, such as a school shooting, OCSD's technology division will be able to connect to campus cameras to know where first responders are needed, Barnes said.

OCSD already has a partnership in place with Lake Forest. The department is using “license plate scanner cameras” throughout the city as well as a new crime data reporting system that gives OCSD the ability to spot local crime trends in real time , said Lake Forest spokesman Jonathan Volzke.

And in addition to all the new technology in the building, the center also houses decades of OCSD memorabilia.

Part of the building's main floor houses artifacts from more than 100 years of department history, including an original replica of a county jail cell and a 1962 Chrysler Newport patrol car. new center is not open to the public, the memorabilia room will only be accessible to interns and anyone invited by the department, but it may be open by appointment in the future, Barnes said.

The 120,000 square foot building was purchased in 2022 and financed entirely with taxpayer dollars.

“I believe strongly that taxpayer dollars are being invested wisely,” Barnes said. “We’re not throwing money in the hole, and we don’t have the money to be thrown in the hole, so every dollar we spend in my budget is a dollar that’s not available elsewhere.”

The memorabilia museum, however, was privately funded through donations of approximately $750,000. The goal is to raise a total of $900,000 for the space, which Barnes says is on the horizon.