Formed in 1980 concurrently with the passing of the Traffic Gate System, Traffic Response Control Unit (TRCU), a branch of the Palomar City Police Department (PCPD) was focused on operations for the new Traffic Control System – internally named The Gates. At first the TRCU Officers resembled Port Authority police, tasked with keeping the peace and enforcing traffic compliance at the Gates. At the dawn of the Culture Clashes in 2003 and with the erection of the District 05 wall, the department was renamed Security Traffic Response Control Force or STRC. Patrolmen were re-christened the ‘Strike Force’ and became a SWAT-like special forces division of the PCPD.
The street name for this department comes from its acronym STRC – “Strike”.
