EAST ALDINE – The new state-of-the-art Harris County 9-1-1 Call Center will begin construction in the near future.
The groundbreaking ceremony for this project took place last Thursday morning, September 22, 2016 at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Aldine Community Storefront, located at 5202 Aldine Mail Route Road, 77039.
Master of Ceremonies was Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, who in his remarks praised the East Aldine District for their revitalization efforts in the area.
Also speaking were Gerald Overturff, chairman of the East Aldine District, and Russell Rau, chairman of the Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network.
Overturff, who grew up in the Aldine neighborhood, noted how it had changed from his early years “running pig trails” in a rural environment, to an urban suburb today.
The new Call Center is expected to create over 100 construction jobs, and several hundred permanent dispatch positions.
EMERGENCY CALLS
As if to emphasize the necessity for a call center for Emergency responses, the audience noted that in front of the ceremony, on Aldine Mail Route, there were two real Haz-mat operations, one a fuel spill from a dump truck, another a spill at a nearby gas station.
Sheriff Hickman noted in his remarks that “this new call center is of significance because it will be a brand new-state-of-the-art facility which will enable emergency communications employees to work more efficiently with Next Generation 9-1-1 emergency communications technology. The call center will service the unincorporated area of Harris County which answers approximately 1 million 9-1-1 and 500,000 nonemergency calls a year. It will also provide for a facility that will influence the way in which Public Safety Operations are supported for many years to come, as well as how we coordinate with nearby agencies, by sharing data and resources and solving problems together.”
This site will not only provide state-of-the-art technology, but also an onsite training module for all new employees. The facility will also be self-sustaining and will accommodate 24/7 operations during any crisis situation, such as a hurricane, flood, or terrorism event. Once online, the new call center will allow Harris County to keep up with the ever growing population in its territory.
The 9-1-1 call taking equipment is supported by Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network (GHC 9-1-1), which administers the 9-1-1 infrastructure for 49 cities wholly or partially within Harris and Fort Bend Counties. This is the largest regional 9-1-1 system in the Texas and one of the largest in the nation.