Buckeye is getting a new 911 communications center.

The city broke ground on the 12,000-square-foot facility earlier this month. The public safety complex currently has a property and evidence building as well as a training facility, which was previously located in the downtown area.

The project, which is costing the city $16 million, will allow the city to expand its 911 dispatch team, said Buckeye Police Department spokesperson Carissa Planalp. The center handled 23% more 911 calls in 2023 than it did in 2022.

The team’s current offices are already running into space constraints. With 16 dispatch members and four supervisors, the team is only expected to grow along with the rest of the city in order to maintain swift response times, Planalp said.

“As the city grows, we want to make sure that our services to our community are growing as well,” Planalp said.

The city hopes to expand its dispatch center in order to retain its current response times as the city continues to grow, Panalp said.

The city has been steadily improving its response times for the most urgent calls. For these priority 1 calls, response times fell from 5:20 in 2020 to 4:54 in 2023. Priority 2 calls, which are also emergency calls but are less urgent, increased slightly from 8:03 in 2022 to 8:10 in 2023.

The city is also developing a real-time crime center at the same location. Real-time crime centers are growing in popularity throughout the Valley, with cities like Glendale and Mesa having already implemented them.

They use technology to help solve crimes faster, with telecommunicators able to more quickly gather information that will help first responders.

An example of technology used by the centers might include license plate readers that could be associated with stolen vehicles or missing persons. Planalp said the city also hopes to partner with local businesses and school districts to implement camera feeds, although next steps for the real-time crime centers are still in the very early phases.

Overall, the new centers will help get eyes on a scene almost immediately. For example, if a crime is taking place where there is a camera, dispatchers would be able to immediately know the risks that first responders would face before they arrive.

In addition to hiring more dispatchers, the Buckeye Police Department also is expected to continuing hiring for more positions in the coming years. With Buckeye being one of the fastest growing cities in the country, more police officers will be needed with the influx of residential and commercial areas.

“What the dispatch center is going to do is allow us that space so that we can grow and add more dispatchers as the department needs them,” Planalp said.

The new communications center will be located on Tirado Way in downtown Buckeye and is expected to be completed during fiscal year 2025.

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Reach the reporter at ahardle@gannett.com or by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @AlexandraHardle.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Buckeye to get new 911 communications center