New Emergency Communications Facility Opens In Hennepin Co.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – While we all hope we never have to call 911 to get help for something, if you do there is now a brand new facility in Plymouth that should make the process much easier and faster.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is getting some big improvements on Friday with the opening of its new Emergency Communications Center in Plymouth. It will officially become home to the largest emergency communications facility in the Upper Midwest. The new facility, which will open with a ribbon cutting ceremony at about 10:30 a.m. Friday, will be the hub of communications for law enforcement officials.
There is also a technical services area that will provide maintenance and repair for about 8,000 police radios across the country. They'll also repair data computers for squad cars countywide. But the most important part of the new center is the 911 dispatch area, which provides emergency services to all of Hennepin County.
The project has been more than 10 years in the making with groundbreaking on the facility about 18 months ago.
A brand new mobile communications center is also one of the highlights of the project. It can go anywhere help is needed, including house fires, barricaded suspects or severe weather. Sheriff Rich Stanek said these mobile communication centers get used several times per month. It will be out at the Twin Cities Marathon this weekend.
Stanek said the facility will handle the 250,000 911 calls that they get on average every year. It will also provide dispatch to assisting agencies when responding to a call. That includes as many as 37 communities, 21 fire departments and 23 law enforcement agencies.