RivCo Sheriff's Deputies to Conduct Pursuit Training at ONT Airport

By City News Service:

The Board of Supervisors this week authorized Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff to lease space at Ontario International Airport over the next five years for vehicle pursuit training and other emergency vehicle exercises that benefit recruits and sharpen current deputies’ skills.

Undersheriff Bill DiYorio told the board that 293,000 square feet of parking lot space near one of the airport runways was being used by the Los Angeles International Airport Police for training and could be available on select dates for the sheriff’s department, as well.

The lease agreement approved by the board stipulates a day rate of $526.85, with an estimated 55 training days, totaling $28,976 in lease expenses during the current fiscal year. The cost will be covered by a California Peace Officer Standards & Training grant, according to sheriff’s documents.

“We have been searching for a suitable location. We searched all over the county,” DiYorio told the board in response to questions regarding why the sheriff’s department wanted to move its training venue outside Riverside County. “This is the best we could come up with.”

According to the undersheriff, the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center in Riverside had access to the nearby March Air Reserve Base tarmac for emergency vehicle training until October, when operational changes at the base made training exercises unfeasible.

DiYorio said several other prospective sites were scrutinized, including the Thermal Club Racetrack, where exercises would have been permitted without charge.

“But that’s a long drive time, and we want to keep our driving expenses down,” DiYorio told the board.

Supervisor John Tavaglione, a former Riverside police reserve officer, said it was an “important thing” to have an appropriate location to prepare recruits for vehicle pursuits and refresh line deputies on proper technique.

“It can be kind of fun -- and scary,” the supervisor said.

DiYorio said the sheriff’s department intended to continue searching for prospective training venues in the county.

In the meantime, the agreement with Los Angeles World Airports, which has controlling authority over Ontario International until it is transferred to the city of Ontario in the next year or two, will permit the sheriff to use the parking lot through 2021 at gradually escalating day rates.