Lexington has opened its $15 million Public Safety Operations Center, in a former juvenile detention facility located off Versailles Road, near Red Mile Road.
The center, which was funded in part with federal and state grant money, will field the city’s estimated 800-1,000 LexCall calls and 1,700 E-911 calls per day.
“We’ve invested in the newest technology, the very latest,” said Lexington Mayor Jim Gray in a release on the center’s opening. “That technology will improve our service when people call 9-1-1 in an emergency and when they call LexCall 3-1-1 to connect with city services. And it will improve our ability to respond to community emergencies, for example a paralyzing ice storm or a tornado.”
In designing the 32,800-square-foot facility, the city worked with state and federal officials and the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program. The program and other state and federal agencies provided approximately $5.5 million to help equip the facility.
Major improvements at the Public Safety Operations Center include a modern digital radio system linking the city’s E-911 service, Police, Fire, Emergency Management, Corrections, Airport Safety, Fayette County Schools and other government divisions and agencies. The center will also provide a public safety hub during a disaster, with the technology, space and resources to allow for faster, better, more accurate and more appropriate emergency response to citizens.