FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Amethyst Uchida, General Manager
Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1
(831) 471-1000
amethyst [at] scr911.org (amethyst[at]scr911[dot]org)
REGIONAL 9-1-1 CENTER CELEBRATES ITS 30th ANNIVERSARY - ALL ARE INVITED!
Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 is a Joint Powers Authority which was established by the County of Santa Cruz and the Cities of Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Watsonville in 1991 to provide public safety communications services for Santa Cruz County law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical service (EMS) agencies.
SCR9-1-1 opened the doors of the new regional center, located at Delaveaga Park in Santa Cruz, on June 19, 1996. SCR9-1-1 continues to serve its original member agencies as well as agencies from San Benito County which were added in 2011. SCR9-1-1 answers emergency and non-emergency telephones for citizens in both Santa Cruz and San Benito counties and provides dispatch services to 6 law enforcement agencies (Santa Cruz Sheriff, Capitola Police, Santa Cruz Police, Watsonville Police, San Benito Sheriff, Hollister Police), 9 fire agencies, and the EMS ambulance provider in both counties.
Since its inception, SCR9-1-1 has handled over 14 million phone calls, including 3,304,828 9-1-1 calls, and managed almost 10 million calls for service. The agency seeks to continually expand and improve its services to the citizens it serves, as well as to the public safety personnel it supports. SCR9-1-1 made history by becoming the first dispatch center in California to be certified by the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and the state’s first cross-county consolidated center in 2011. SCR9-1-1 implemented computer-based emergency medical dispatch protocols in 2004, began directly accepting 9-1-1 calls from cell phones in 2006, added the ability to answer 9-1-1 text messages in 2016, and implemented an AI-assisted, human-managed quality assurance solution in 2024.
In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, SCR9-1-1 staff are holding an Open House on Thursday, June 18, 2026 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Please join us for light refreshments, tours of the dispatch center, and dedication of the Authority’s conference room in honor of its first General Manager, Michael J. McDougall.
The center is located at 495 Upper Park Road in Santa Cruz. es from San Benito County which were added in 2011. SCR9-1-1 answers emergency and non-emergency telephones for citizens in both Santa Cruz and San Benito counties and provides dispatch services to 6 law enforcement agencies (Santa Cruz Sheriff, Capitola Police, Santa Cruz Police, Watsonville Police, San Benito Sheriff, Hollister Police), 9 fire agencies, and the EMS ambulance provider in both counties.
Since its inception, SCR9-1-1 has handled over 14 million phone calls, including 3,304,828 9-1-1 calls, and managed almost 10 million calls for service. The agency seeks to continually expand and improve its services to the citizens it serves, as well as to the public safety personnel it supports. SCR9-1-1 made history by becoming the first dispatch center in California to be certified by the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and the state’s first cross-county consolidated center in 2011. SCR9-1-1 implemented computer-based emergency medical dispatch protocols in 2004, began directly accepting 9-1-1 calls from cell phones in 2006, added the ability to answer 9-1-1 text messages in 2016, and implemented an AI-assisted, human-managed quality assurance solution in 2024.
In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, SCR9-1-1 staff are holding an Open House on Thursday, June 18, 2026 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Please join us for light refreshments, tours of the dispatch center, and dedication of the Authority’s conference room in honor of its first General Manager, Michael J. McDougall.
The center is located at 495 Upper Park Road in Santa Cruz.