Lieu secures $841,000 for Santa Monica 911 dispatch upgrade, $13.7M total for district
The City of Santa Monica will receive $841,000 in federal funding to replace aging dispatcher consoles in its 911 emergency communications center, part of a $13.77 million package of community project grants announced by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Los Angeles County.
The Santa Monica grant, drawn from the Department of Justice's COPS Technology and Equipment account, will fund new equipment at the city's Dispatch and Communications Center at 1685 Main St., where public safety dispatchers work around the clock handling police, fire and EMS calls. The existing consoles have not been upgraded since 2002, and replacement parts have grown increasingly difficult to obtain, according to Lieu's office.
"These upgrades will help ensure staff are able to be responsive to future 9-1-1 calls from the community," Lieu's office said in a project description.
The Santa Monica award is one of 14 community project grants Lieu secured across California's 36th Congressional District, totaling $13,770,432.
"One of …