Regional police are in the process of planning the creation of their new state-of-the-art $173 million communications centre in Cambridge.
The Public Safety Communications Centre will look to improve the connection between residents of Waterloo Region and emergency response teams.
“The new facility will just be a way for us to optimize how we deliver 911 services to our community, and ultimately how we can coordinate resources between emergency response agencies as well,” said Jamie Brosseau, inspector with the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS). “We have needed this facility for probably more than 10 years now.”
As part of the project, WRPS invited paramedic services and fire departments across the region to join them at the centre to create a hub to respond to calls to 911.
More than 70 per cent of 911 calls are directed to police, and 10 per cent per intended for fire personnel. Right now, all 911 calls are funneled through WRPS and downstreamed to the appropriate dispatcher.
According to Regional Councillor Sue Foxton, the CAO’s of seven regional municipalities have penned a letter to WRPS to explain that they’re not interested in joining in on the communications centre at this time.
Foxton added that the Township of North Dumfries had recently invested in their own fire department.
“We want to have that open conversation. We want to understand what’s possible. We want to understand what the reservations are. It’s just an opportunity for us to come together and have that collective conversation,” said Brosseau.
Brosseau and Chief of Police Mark Crowell explained that declining the invitation at this time doesn’t close the door for future opportunities for collaboration.
“When you take those agencies and you put those dispatch services together, what you get is the opportunity to give shape to emergency response at the time of call versus the time of response.”
The proposed and approved build is a 75,000 sq. ft., three-floor facility at the WRPS campus on Maple Grove Road. The facility is set to be completed by 2029.