Ground to Be Broken on 911 Center
Seven years after voters approved the funding, the Los Angeles Police Department will break ground Monday on a new 911 center in the San Fernando Valley.
“This is a long-awaited and important day for Angelenos,” said Mayor Richard Riordan, who plans to attend the ceremony. “The new Valley 911 center is a critical component in Los Angeles’ continuing effort to upgrade public-safety services.”
In addition to serving daily as an emergency dispatch center for Valley residents, the new $20-million center in West Hills will also serve as a backup for citywide emergency calls in the event a new downtown 911 center loses power.
The project is part of a larger program to upgrade the city’s 911 system, which is slow and outdated, resulting in 8,400 callers hanging up monthly before reaching an operator.
The 911 center is being built on the former Hughes Missile Systems property at 23001 Roscoe Blvd. in West Hills. Police Chief Bernard Parks is to join Riordan in the groundbreaking ceremony.
The Valley center construction should be completed by March 2001, but it won’t be operational until January 2003 because of the time it takes to install the computer dispatch equipment, according to a new city report.
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