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In an emergency, calling 9-1-1 and receiving immediate help can literally mean the difference between life and death. And in Fairfax County, these calls are automatically routed to the highly trained people at the Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC).
Housed in the McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center on West Ox Road in Fairfax, it’s the largest 9-1-1 center in Virginia and in the top 10 in the U.S. The county adopted 9-1-1 in 1981; and in 2005, it became its own agency, separate from the police.
Dispatchers receive emergency calls and dispatch police, fire/EMS, sheriff and animal protection units. And two of these dispatchers – Ashley Honabach and Gabi Graves, both also hostage and crisis negotiators – addressed a recent, virtual meeting of the Sully District Police Station’s Citizens Advisory Committee…
