Hawaii County opens $31M Emergency Call Center

Hawaii County’s new 17,127-square-foot Emergency Call Center in Hilo opened this week, housing dispatch operations for the Police and Fire departments.

“After decades of planning, we now have a state-of-the-art facility where our police and fire dispatchers can work side by side,” Mayor Kimo Alameda said Monday at the blessing ceremony. “This new Emergency Call Center represents a major investment in public safety and, importantly, supports the essential around-the-clock work of these dedicated professionals.”

The dedication of the Mohouli Street facility coincided with National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which is April 13-19.

“What better way to honor our hardworking police communications officers during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week than by blessing a brand-new facility that provides our dedicated team of men and women with spacious work zones, top-of-the-line technology and modern amenities?” said Hawaii County Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz.

Construction of the $31 million call center began in late 2021; it was built by Hensel Phelps Construction.

Designed to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes, the emergency call center features a conference room, briefing room, training room, cafeteria, workout room, locker room, bathrooms and showers.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to see this come to fruition,” said Hawaii County Fire Chief Kazuo Todd. “The combined police and fire dispatch center has been a long time coming, and I am just glad to be able to see it actually completed. I’m looking forward to the future for our departments working together in service of the public and making the best possible outcome happen whenever we can.”

The ceremony included the reading of a proclamation from Alameda, a certificate from County Council Chair Holeka Inaba and the presentation of a plaque from Laura Mallery-Sayre of the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation, which donated gym equipment for the facility.

Speakers included Moszkowicz and Todd. Police Chaplain Renee Godoy conducted the invocation and blessing.

“This October marks 50 years since our current headquarters, including our dispatch center, opened in 1975, and the new facility is a much-anticipated improvement,” Moszkowicz said.

Currently, there are seven police communications officers and two fire communications officers working per shift. The new facility was built with an eye toward growth and can comfortably fit 13 police dispatch consoles and nine fire dispatch consoles.

Plans for the facility have been in the works since the early 2000s.

Police and fire dispatch personnel were able to provide input into the final design of the facility’s layout. Original plans called for separate walled-off areas for police and fire personnel. However, since May 2023 the Police Department has provided room in its dispatch center for fire communications staff, who had previously been housed in the Central Fire Station on Kinoole Street in Hilo.

After working in the same room with each other for several months, police and fire dispatchers said they wanted to be integrated into one operational area in the new facility.

“It was a wonderful development because their suggestions were able to be incorporated into the final design, making it truly theirs based on their experience and needs,” Moszkowicz said.

The current dispatch facilities at police headquarters will be repurposed as a backup dispatch facility.