Support Services

  1. 911 Dispatch Communications
  2. Cal ID Biometric Identification Network
  3. Forensic Services Bureau
  4. Gang Task Force (GTF)
  5. Information Services Bureau (ISB)

Our Dispatch Centers

The Communications Bureau is the critical link between the community and patrol units in the field. Dispatch communication centers are staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has three communication centers. Central Dispatch is located in Riverside, the Coachella Valley Dispatch Center is located in Palm Desert, and the Colorado River Dispatch Center is located in Blythe. The centers provide the highest quality and most professionally competent public services to over one million residents of Riverside County.

Dispatch communications centers handle emergency 911 calls for service as well as wireless calls, non-emergency, and allied agency calls. The calls for service range from in-progress crimes such as a robbery or an assault to non-emergency calls, such as past petty thefts or loud music disturbance calls. Communication centers are also responsible for the dispatching of patrol units to calls for service and specialized units, such as Hazardous Device Team (HDT), Emergency Service Team (EST) and California Fire Arson Investigators (CF), to name a few.

Trained Staff

Each new dispatcher is required to complete a nine-week Dispatch Academy, a three-week Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Basic Dispatch Course, and extensive on-the-job training. Two different communications skills are taught:

  • Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP): Focuses on call-taking and interviewing techniques, as well as all phone, Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD), and records systems.
  • Radio: Teaches the basics of dispatching calls for service as well as how to deal with critical incidents on the radio and the workings of the radio system.

Did You Know?

In calendar year 2019 Riverside County Dispatch Centers handled 1,732,146 telephone calls and dispatched 874,612 calls for service (CFS) with 289,754 being in-progress priority CFS.

Altogether, the Sheriff is responsible for policing nearly 1.4 million residents of the County’s population of 2.4 million.