The City of El Paso marked a significant addition to its law enforcement infrastructure with the inauguration of the El Paso Police Department’s new Upper East Side Regional Command Center. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the facility located at 14301 Pebble Hills Blvd. This development represents the city's first new police regional command center in over two decades. The significance of the center is underscored by the fact that it is situated in El Paso’s most rapidly expanding area, articulated by City Rep. for District 5 Isabel Salcido. "When you're talking about density, crime is going to be a breed. And so, for that, you need to move and be able to target area so that you can ensure that their safety is where the actual people are at," Salcido explained, as KTSM reports.
The state-of-the-art facility is a direct result from the $413 million Public Safety Bond passed by voters in 2019, aimed at enhancing and expanding police and fire departments' capabilities. The Upper East Side Regional Command Center is equipped with administrative offices, public art, secured parking for employees and the public, and specialized spaces including holding cells, interrogation rooms, and spaces for victim interviews. Moreover, the facility boasts a fitness center for police personnel, a community room, and a municipal court bond area, outlining the center's multifaceted role, as KFOX-TV highlights.
Further emphasizing the pivotal role of the facility, the new command center staffs approximately 60 officers under the leadership of Cmdr. John Lanahan. Having been carved out of the Pebble Hills command, the Upper East Side precinct occupies a strategic position at the city's eastern edge, extending the police presence and aiming to enhance response times in this fast-growing district. The El Paso Police additionally plan to increase their ranks with nearly 90 new officers by June, following multiple police academy graduations scheduled between November and May, a development that could potentially bolster law enforcement response across the city, according to El Paso Times.
Not resting on their laurels, the El Paso Police Department is looking toward the future with plans to construct a new police headquarters and a Central Regional Command Center. The proposed Central Regional Command Center will occupy the site of the now-shuttered Bonham Elementary School situated near Airway Boulevard and Edgemere Drive in the Cielo Vista neighborhood. While staffing and response times are issues still being ironed out by the department, the new installations and the influx of new officers are seen as key ingredients to enhancing public safety, promptly addressing crime in the growing metropolis which the Upper East Side Regional Command Center now calls home, as outlined by the El Paso Times.
