A small “masked” crowd also attended the event marking only the third headquarters in the department’s history. The original headquarters – and jail – known as the Bastille, was replaced in 1964 by the current headquarters, located on Lacey Boulevard.
One of the intriguing aspects of the new $8.2 million headquarters is its community room, designed to serve the public and include a restroom and shower facility for Kings County’s homeless.
Salas helped to garner $7 million for the project. He was also instrumental in securing $13.7 million for various public safety projects in Kings County, including a dispatch center, currently under construction in Lemoore adjacent to the Lemoore Police Department.
It’s certainly not easy raising funds for public projects. Still, with help from Salas, Robinson and persistent lobbying from supervisors, including Valle and Verboon, convinced Sacramento legislators that Kings County needed a new office.
While Salas helped secure the funding, the local assemblyman helped open fellow legislators’ doors to the Kings County contingent. Robinson said the new sheriff’s headquarters wouldn’t have happened without the lobbying of Verboon and Valle.
“Richard Valle and I went to Sacramento together, walked the halls, talked to different legislators to make sure they understood what we were trying to accomplish here, so when it came before them for a vote they already know about it, and that’s what we did for about a year,” said Robinson.
“You know, we were fortunate enough that Assemblyman Salas was ready to carry that through right to the very end when the budget was being dealt with,” added Kings County’s sheriff. “One of the things that he did was to just give us a lot of great advice in Sacramento, and who we needed to talk to … he talked about the homeless piece and the community piece.”
Robinson said that might have convinced legislators to assist with the project, and Salas seemed to agree.
”I love it when these projects are coming to not only to be built but when they finally come on-line,” said Salas. “We were able to secure $13.7 million specifically for Kings County, which is something that no other county in the state is able to boast about. We’ve been able to do some great things by bringing that money in (like) Lemoore, for instance, bringing the 911 dispatch center, and it was a huge community need.”
How difficult was it to legislate during the COVID-19 pandemic?
“It makes it a little more difficult, but not impossible,” said Salas. He said that one of the things he likes about Kings County is its ability to work together to find solutions to problems.
“We’re not going to let a hurdle like COVID, or anything else, get in our way,” he said.
Salas went on to say that he and his fellow legislators, despite the difficult times, plan to meet the demands of the needs of the community. “It’s a testament to us coming together, overcoming adversity, and when people tell us no, we find innovative solutions to find a way to yes.”
The new headquarters will include a large community room open to the public and available for use by members of the community and other law enforcement partners.
Construction begins within the next six weeks. “We believe we’ll be able to move into the building somewhere around the early part of 2022,” said Robinson.
