Desert Hot Springs Police Department unveils new dispatch center with open house for the community

The Desert Hot Springs Police Department unveiled their brand new dispatch center with a family-friendly, free open house event for the community.

The open house took place Monday evening. Residents were able to tour the new dispatch center, meet dispatchers, see police units up close, and enjoy a nice hot dog and beverage.

For the last 15 years, Desert Hot Springs has relied on Cathedral City for its dispatch services. The new dispatch center marks an important moment for the city as it separates from Cathedral City's dispatch and continues the police department's independence.

It's also the first addition to the department's expanded public safety campus.  The will house up to six dispatchers.

Desert Hot Springs will become the first agency in California to go live with a cloud-based 9-1-1 system, replacing physical phone lines with virtual ones. Officials said this will allow them to easily adapt if something happens to the center. 

News channel 3 got an exclusive first look inside the center last week.