PSAP Construction

You may have noticed a lot of work going on at the Grand Forks Police Department. That construction is the new Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) or the 911 Dispatch Center.

What started as a 3 person/3 console center in 1986, has expanded into a 4 console setting in 1997 to meet the growing needs of our citizenship and emergency response personnel. Adding the 4th console allowed the center to be staffed with 4 dispatchers during the busiest times for calls of service.

The dispatch center now has 450 square feet. The new addition is a 4800 sq. ft. building with 1300 sq. ft. dedicated to dispatch. Theis allows us the capability to expand to and 8 person center if needed.

The addition includes moving criticial communication equipment located in the basement, to a new equipment room that will have climate controls and security. We have worked closely with our architects and engineers resulting in a building design ensuring adequate wiring and surge capacity engineering to meet today and tomorrow's technology requirements. The new center will be built to withstand an F4 tornado, and will have stand alone emergency backup power capability, as well as stand alone utilities to ensure continuity of service.

The project is estimated at $2.1 million. $1.5 million are 911 fee revenue with the remaining dollars borrowed from the water fund which will be paid back over a 5 - 7 year timeframe.

The building addition will be complete in June of 2011. "We are excited to move forward with this much needed improvement to our public safety facility." PSAP Director Becky Ault says. "These improvements will help us better meet the needs of our citizenship in Grand Forks County."



Public Safety Answering Point
122 S 5th Street * Grand Forks, ND 58201