ST. LOUIS — Answering the call: a new 911 dispatch center broke ground Thursday in St. Louis to save more lives.
"St. Louisans deserve a fast response when they call 911," Rasmus Jorgensen said.
Jorgensen, the deputy director of communications for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, said that's exactly why the city is breaking ground on the Public Safety Answering Point building, which will act as a 911 dispatch center.
For the first time ever, it'll house police, fire and EMS dispatchers, along with the city's emergency management, all under one roof. The goal is to streamline communication.
The $45 million investment will be at 2741 Thomas St. near the St. Louis Fire Department headquarters and the city's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Jorgensen said they're offering dispatchers an incentive, about $10,000 more in salary.
"That's going to allow us to bring in more dispatchers and allow us to cross-train and really just give that fast response when people have an emergency," Jorgensen said.
The city has had an array of problems with 911 calls from long waits to no one answering at all. Currently, the city has 90 dispatchers on staff. The goal is to be at 116.
In Oct. 2023, 5 On Your Side reported the city was down 50 dispatchers.
The Department of Public Safety Director, Charles Coyle, knows the hardships of the role.
"The dispatchers are really under the same emotional impact of these emergencies that the first responders are under," Coyle added.
St. Louis police said they aim to answer all 911 calls within 10 seconds, but it may take longer when the center is busy.
According to their recent data from this summer, in April 2024, 84% of 911 calls were answered within 10 seconds, which is an improvement from July 2023 when the number was 57%. Jorgensen said the city's ultimate goal is to answer 90% of calls within 10 seconds.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said at the groundbreaking news conference, "We hear you, we understand what you're going through and we're responding with action."
It'll house 44 stations rather than its current number of 35 and in turn, it'll be able to have more dispatchers there to respond faster.
Jones acknowledged investment is imperative. To reduce delays, the idea is to grow.
"Previously, the hiring salary for an EMS dispatcher, for example, was $32,000 in 2023. That minimum salary grew to $47,000," she shared.
Jones explained the different departments are already working together to be prepared for the merge and get acquainted with the new dispatching software.
"In fact, we now hire public safety dispatchers who are trained to handle calls for police, firefighters and EMS, not just one of the branches of our emergency response," Jones added.
Construction of the new dispatch center will take almost two years. Completion should be in 2026.
Funding will come from various places. The mayor's office said they have received $28.2 million dollars so far-- $18.2 million has come from the city through American Rescue Plan Act fund and Economic Development Sales Tax money. $10 million will come from general revenue, which the city also calls budget stabilization funds. $16.8 million is still needed and that funding will come through ARPA re-appropriation or general obligation bonds, according to Conner Kerrigan, the director of communications for Mayor Tishaura Jones.
There are also plans for a childcare facility to be built next to the dispatch center, the city says they are working to secure those funds.
"We want it to be done, I'm sure the community feels the same, we want the building to be done so we can do these things better," Jorgensen said.
According to the city's website, the contract for the building was executed January 2020, but the project was placed on hold. Just this month, a building permit was issued.
St. Louis Fire Department Chief Dennis Jenkerson shared it's been 18 years in the making to bring this concept to life.