The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is breaking ground on its second of two new sheriff's substations. These are the first two permanent sub-stations in the county’s history.
Using ceremonial shovels Sheriff Susan Pamerleau and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff turn the first dirt of this substation. It’s next door to the Dominguez State Jail outside of Loop 1604 and Highway 90 on the Southwest Side.
“We’re growing in leaps and bounds in all of Bexar County, but this is the fastest growing area," says Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Chico Rodriguez. He says the location was chosen to plan for that future growth. It also has quick access to the highway.
The stations will be 13,000 square feet and are costing about $17 million to build. That includes money for land acquisition, studies, design totaling $1.5 million. Included also in that is $3.2 million for utilities in the substation on the Northeast side.
Pamerleau says the stations will reduce response times.
“We want to get it to around seven minutes countywide because the national standard for a metropolitan county like ours is seven to 10 minutes,” she says.
Right now the response time for the sheriff’s office is about 10 minutes. It was just under 13 minutes when she took office in 2012. The first substation broke ground near Randolph Air Force Base on the Northeast Side last week. Construction on both is expected to be completed late next year.
