A brand new emergency dispatch centre is up and running on Commerce Circle in Saanich.
The Emergency Communications Centre -- or E-Comm -- replaces three separate 911 emergency call centres in order to consolidate, and save the CRD money.
CEO, Oliver Grüter-Andrew says the various police departments are being brought on in phases:
" We first went operational last week, Tuesday morning, initially with the Victoria Police department. And then this week, Tuesday, we brought on board the Saanich Police Department and the Oak Bay Police Department. So all 3 are now being dispatched by E-Comm out of the South Island Centre, and calls from the public are taken there as well for them."
The CRD borrowed $16-million to build the new facility which was built to withstand a major earthquake and serve as a communications centre during a natural disaster.
All southern and central Vancouver Island RCMP detachments, including West Shore, are scheduled to transition to E-Comm next week.
All 9-1-1 calls for police, fire and ambulance on central/southern Vancouver Island, as well as Salt Spring and the Outer Gulf Islands (Pender, Galiano and Mayne), will be directed to the new centre.
An official unveiling for media and local officials is scheduled for March 6th.