Nogales police outline plan to build Public Safety Operations Center at old armory

Police Chief Carlos Jimenez and Assistant Chief Robert Gallegos briefed the Nogales City Council on April 2 about plans to convert the former National Guard Armory on West Western Avenue into a Public Safety Operations Center, or PSOC, and to relocate the city’s 9-1-1 answering point (Public Safety Answering Point, PSAP) there.

Jimenez said the department aims to complete the PSAP portion of the PSOC by spring 2026 and that the armory conversion is driven by long-running facility deficiencies at the current Nogales Police Department building, which dates to 1972. “Our NPD facilities date back to 1972 and…have not had any meaningful updates,” Jimenez said. He told council members the current building lacks secure areas to receive, process, interview or hold arrestees, witnesses or victims.

Assistant Chief Robert Gallegos detailed operational drivers for the project and how regional cross‑border activity increases demands on local public safety operations. He told the council that Nogales’ permanent population is about 19,770 but that the city handles a much larger daily and annual flow of people and trade,…