BUCKEYE, Ariz. — For the past three years, plans for a new communications center for the Buckeye Police Department have been in the works. About a month ago, dreams turned into reality when officials broke ground and construction began.
"We knew we needed to plan for the future and this is part of our whole public safety plan," said Deputy Chief of Police Robert Sanders.
The city of Buckeye is rapidly growing. Sanders said the department wanted to stay on top of it and build a modern facility that is both necessary and important.
"We're ready for the future, we're ready to meet the needs of the citizens and the high level of service they expect from our officers and dispatchers and we're ready," he said.
The 12,000-square-foot complex will include a real-time crime center that utilizes technology and resources like license plate readers and traffic cameras. It also will include a new dispatch center that will help the department grow.
"It'll allow us to increase our capacity of workstations from six to 12 so that'll take us way into the future," Sanders said. "Our dispatchers are the first of the first responders. They are the first people who answer the phone and provide the services. They're highly professional putting up with cramped quarters. For several years we've built out our current Comms Center and it's something they deserve."
The Buckeye Police Department's dispatch team currently has 16 dispatchers and four supervisors. Officials would like to see that number grow and believe with the new building they'll be able to hire more dispatchers over the years.
"Our call volume has increased 23% last year, it's a lot," Sanders said. "We're still able to maintain our high level of service. Our response times remain highly professional under five minutes. We expect our demand for services to increase but we're ready for it, we've planned for it."
The center is currently being built near the department's training and evidence center. The project will cost about $16 million which Sanders said is coming from the general fund. The department also has plans in the work to build a new police headquarters in the next five to 10 years. Overall, he said the new facility is a win-win for everyone.
"It's fantastic and it's exciting because we know the level of service we can provide," he said. "It gives us the ability to grow with the city and instead of playing catchup we'll be prepared and way ahead."
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