Montgomery County Opens Joint Operations Center Bringing Police, Fire and Emergency Management Together in Gaithersburg

Montgomery County officials on Thursday celebrated the opening of a new Public Safety Joint Operations Center in Gaithersburg, designed to bring police, fire and emergency management personnel together to improve coordination during emergencies, according to Bethesda Today. The center sits inside the Montgomery County Public Safety Headquarters at 100 Edison Park Drive; the 13,000-square-foot facility cost approximately $2.4 million, funded through approximately $1.219 million in general obligation bond funds and $1.22 million in recordation tax revenues, county officials said.

The center has been operating in some capacity since March, according to Luke Hodgson, director of the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Large screens line the walls, displaying real-time information, maps and operational updates as personnel share information and coordinate resources. "High-risk, time-sensitive emergencies such as missing persons cases, shelter-in-place events, special operations, and weather-related emergencies have consistently demonstrated the value of rapid information sharing, unified decision making, and synchronized operations," Hodgson said during Thursday's ceremony.

The center operates Monday through Saturday, with staff working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, reflecting the increased call volume later in the week. The office hopes to eventually expand operations to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Zach Estess, a division chief with the emergency management office, told Bethesda Today. On a typical day one person works in the center with an additional duty officer on call, and the facility can accommodate up to eight personnel when needed. The Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security serves as the coordinating agency, monitoring conditions, coordinating resources and issuing public warnings through the county's Alert Montgomery system.

Acting Police Chief Darren Francke said the center builds on efforts to integrate police resources, including the department's drone-as-first-responder program and its real-time information center. Francke pointed to the 2002 Washington-area sniper shootings, when officials initially coordinated from a gas station parking lot before moving to a small breezeway with a corkboard, index cards and rotary phones. "A center like this changes the game for us in how we manage those incidents and continue to do our job in the most effective way," Francke said.