By Zach Richter
 San Tan Valley Today

 On March 6, 2010 the Pinal County Sheriff's Office celebrated the grand opening of their new substation.

The Fair offered up an abundance of health and safety information, from nutritional facts to professional document shredding. Local vendors also turned out, as did several political groups including Citizens for San Tan Valley Incorporation and a group promoting Shaun Babeu's bid for Justice of the Peace of Apache Junction.

It wasn't all gloom and political doom however, children could take advantage of the bouncy castle and the climbing wall or just enjoy the free popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones. Free hotdogs and hamburgers were also available courtesy of Johnson Ranch.

However, the real event of the day was the substation opening and Sheriff Paul Babeu had the honor of cutting the ribbon. Before he did, he spoke of how important this project is to the community. "While other counties are closing substations  we are opening new ones in order to better protect our citizens," he said.

The new substation is significantly larger than the old facility with more computers and telephones. It also features a large training room as well as an area available for public meetings.

More importantly, as  Lt. Doug Brown, Region Commander of the facility, pointed out it is much more accessible to the public. "Citizen's can find us a lot easier here," he said. "That's why we have the big red sign on top of the building and are putting a sign in the marquee on the Combs side[ of the plaza]. The mainstream public will know we are here."

Another selling point for the new substation, at least from a taxpayers point of view, is that it didn't cost Pinal County a penny. The building was leased to the county for $56,000 a year for two years at which point the PCSO will have the option of renewing on a yearly basis. This cost as well as the costs for the all of the renovations and equipment were paid for with RICO funds. These are funds that are obtained from the sale of assets belonging to criminals. In short, drug dealers paid for the substation.

While this facility is a step up from the former substation, it is only a midpoint in a much larger plan. As Lt. Brown explained the five year goal is to locate the substation in a county owned building with temporary detainment facilities the substation currently lacks. Ideally this building will be located adjacent to local court facilities for obvious reasons.

The new substation is located at 155 W Combs in the Fry's Shopping Plaza. It replaces the substation that was located off of Hunt Hwy which closed near the end of February.