On Tuesday, the District formally opened its $116 million public safety operations center, a highly secure, technology-driven facility that is designed to manage all levels of crisis efficiently, from a burned-out streetlight to a regionwide disaster.
The opening of the 127,000-square-foot Unified Communications Center ushers in a “new era in emergency preparedness and Homeland Security in our city,” said Mayor Anthony Williams, who was joined by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, among many District dignitaries, for the official dedication.
“It’s a major advance in how we can communicate with our citizens and our residents,” Williams said.
The center, built on 11.8 acres on the St. Elizabeth’s East campus in Southeast Washington, features a 12,600-square-foot call center with more than 100 desks for call-takers for 911 emergency, 311 nonemergency and the mayor’s call center. The facility also houses the Emergency Management Agency, the mayor’s emergency command center, Department of Transportation’s traffic management division and the regional incident command and control center.
The building was constructed to the same security standards as the White House and U.S. Capitol. It is blast and bullet resistant and self-sustaining — with food, water and fuel — for up to 72 hours, officials said, and its technology is protected. The center’s technical systems include computer-aided dispatch software, voice logging and recording equipment, synchronized timing of all systems, local and wide-area networking and real-time monitoring of all technical infrastructure.
Having taken a tour, Kaine said the D.C. center “sets the standard.” Chertoff called it a “great model to the rest of the country of what can be done.”
The center’s “sole purpose is the safe-keeping of residents of the District of Columbia and the National Capital Region,” said Suzanne Peck, the District’s chief technology officer and a key player in the center’s eight-year development. The first call-takers moved in Friday, Peck said, and had already taken 16,594 calls as of noon Tuesday — each one answered on average in five seconds.
“We can, we will, protect our great city and our people,” she said.
Also in the UCC
» Child development center
» Fitness room
» Stress reduction rooms
