Southwest Regional Communications Center
In December 1998, the cities of Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Duncanville, Texas, entered into an agreement that created the Southwest Regional Communications Center (SWRCC). These three cities, with a combined population approaching 150,000 citizens, share borders in the southwest region of Dallas County, Texas. The center was created to provide a single 9-1-1 Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) for this area and share radio communications among the three Police and three Fire departments.
In October 1999, the newly formed organization took up residency in the old DeSoto Police Department building on Parks Dr. in DeSoto. This move coincided with the move of DeSoto Police into their new home a short distance away on Belt Line Road. Over the years, the original employee compliment of 14 has grown to a staff of 28 full-time employees working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the citizens and public safety employees they serve.
Though SWRCC is physically located in the City of DeSoto and obtains much of its support services from DeSoto, this operation truly is the property of all three cities equally. SWRCC is overseen by a Managing Director who answers directly to a board consisting of the three city managers of the member cities. As for financial support, the operating budget is divided equally between the three cities each fiscal year.
The mission and scope of services provided by SWRCC has grown over the years as it has matured and proven its synergy. Currently SWRCC is connected by a fiber optic link to each city which essentially combines the three city networks for faster access and sharing of information between public safety entities.
SWRCC also provides a unique service to its citizens by directly monitoring residential and commercial alarms. With state-of-the-art equipment and software, SWRCC alarm monitoring completely eliminates one full step in the alarm process which could save precious seconds in an emergency.