California Sheriff Adds Customized Mobile Command Vehicles

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in California has purchased two new mobile command vehicles from Frontline Communications, a division of Pierce Manufacturing. The identical and highly customized C-45X-4 mobile command vehicles will be delivered in March and in the second quarter of 2022.

These specialized vehicles will provide support at wildfires, search and rescue operations, major crime scene investigations, large community events, and crime prevention events. Additionally, the vehicles will support mutual aid for all allied emergency responding agencies in the five municipalities in Ventura County that provide their own law enforcement services.

Some of the most notable system design and integrated communications attributes of Ventura County’s new mobile command vehicles include:

• An oversized command area
• Large meeting space and multi-agency interoperability
• Touchscreen, screen-sharing technology, PA systems, and video teleconferencing capabilities with onboard PCs and external device support
• Modular space with interoperability radio dispatch stations for all common frequencies and walk-up laptop stations
• Multi-modem cellular technology with satellite data as a backup
• PTZ camera system, satellite and local TV, and a video switching matrix

Other attributes of vehicles include:

• Freightliner M2-112 chassis with 330-inch wheelbase
• Detroit Diesel DD13 12.8L, 505-hp engine
• Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission with PTO provision
• 16,000-lb. tapered leaf front suspension
• Airliner 40,000-lb. extra duty rear suspension
• 50-gallon right-hand aluminum fuel tank and 50-gallon left-hand aluminum fuel tank (100-gallon total)
• Fully welded roof seams for greater durability and leak resistance
• 25kW Tier 4 final generator with Dynagen programmable controller

“Our community experiences both man-made and natural disasters and these vehicles will provide us with the ability to communicate with all agencies engaged in public safety operations. They also offer the much-needed space and equipment to properly manage our response for many years to come,” said Sheriff Bill Ayub of Ventura County in a release.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office provides patrol services for five municipalities within the county. Made up of 758 dedicated full-time sworn staff and 514 full-time professional staff, the team received over 80,000 calls for service in the past year.