New RSO Units in South Temecula?

[211]

Hey everyone. I've been lurking for awhile but haven't been active on the forum yet.

I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on the new RSO Chevrolet Tahos that I've been seeing all over the South Temecula and Rainbow area lately. Starting about 3 or 4 months back, I began seeing the new Tahoes enforcing along I-15 between Rainbow Valley and Rancho California. I've even seen some with vehicles stopped as far south as Mission Road (well into SD County). I've never heard any of these units on the air (or at least they're not distinguished enough for me to know it's one of them) so I don't know what their identifiers are, but I recently heard a female deputy in Temecula ask for assistance from a "500" unit because her vehicle couldn't drive down a really bad dirt road, so I'm wondering if she was referring to one of these units.

I know the "500" units are typically some type of special detail (high visibility units?). I recently saw one of these Tahoes with a vehicle stopped and the deputy had the back of the unit open. The back had some sort of large, rack-mounted equipment that looked like a bunch of metal drawers full of very small items (very similar to what you would see in a delivery van full of car parts or something).

Almost everytime I see one of these units, it's between the hours of 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm, and they've usually got someone stopped along Interstate 15 on the northbound side between Rainbow Valley Blvd and Temecula Parkway. I will also frequently see them parked at the checkpoint on I-15. I'm wondering if this is some sort of high visibility enforcement along the I-15 corridor that is funded by the Dept. of Homeland Security or something. Anyone have any thoughts or info?

[ddoug4uonly]

I was told by a Deputy that Ford is discontinuing the Crown Vic. Maybe the Tahoe will become the new patrol vehilce for the southwest area.

[rolncode2892]

Those Tahoes are SEB K-9 units assigned to highway drug interdiction