State-of-the-Art D.C. Communications Center Is Lauded
Building Would Be A Regional Hub In Terrorist Attack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 8, 2006; Page PW11
District officials have opened a high-tech emergency communications center, a landmark in their efforts to reform a troubled 911 system and better prepare the city for terrorist attacks and other crises.
The pink-brick Unified Communications Center, built on the grounds of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast Washington, will handle all emergency police and fire calls, house the D.C. Emergency Management Agency and serve as the mayor's command center in a disaster.
The $116 million building was inaugurated Sept. 26 during a ceremony that drew dignitaries from throughout the region, including D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The building is so state-of-the-art that even Chertoff admitted to a case of "operations center envy."
"It's a great model for the rest of the country," he said.
For years, the city's 911 system was the focus of complaints and scandals. In 1998, the city's inspector general found that thousands of emergency calls were allowed to go unanswered.
In response, District officials decided to combine the city's police, fire and emergency medical call-takers and dispatchers under one roof in what eventually became a new agency, the D.C. Office of Unified Communications.
E. Michael Latessa, director of the agency, said the emergency calls had been going to a single office on McMillan Drive NW. But the old center was cramped, with air-conditioning units whirring loudly.
The new building, in contrast, is 127,000 square feet with high ceilings and has a central room vaguely reminiscent of the NASA Mission Control Center shown in movies and TV reports. Call-takers work at desks with multiple flat-panel computer screens. On giant screens above, they can check news events and weather patterns, as well as the number of incoming calls.
"If we had another sniper situation, we would be able to put additional call-takers" there to receive tips and reports, Latessa said. "If we were to have a major disaster, where the 911 system would be overloaded with calls, we have the capacity of expanding it."
The center also could become a regional hub in the event of a terrorist attack or other major crisis, officials said. The building's bricks, stone and doors are blast-resistant. It has enough water, food, gas and generator power to be self-sustaining for 72 hours, said Suzanne J. Peck, the city's chief technology officer.
"This is the same level of security that the White House has," Peck said. "There is capacity for all necessary emergency management and other personnel" who would arrive in a crisis.
The communications systems have extensive backup to minimize disruptions caused by a power outage or breakdown.
