Today, Wake County leaders and U.S. Congressional representatives formally announced the approval of $1.5 million in federal funding for two major projects aimed at improving emergency response and solving crimes. Reps Deborah Ross (NC-02) and David Price (NC-04) fought for the money as part of a sweeping bipartisan bill that will help pay for renovations to replace the outdated Wake County Emergency Operations Center and construction of a new DNA laboratory within the Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification.

“As Wake County grows, our services need to grow with them, and, in the case of our Emergency Operations Center, our space is far too small for the third fastest-growing county in the United States,” said Wake County Commissioner Matt Calabria. “We can’t redirect storms. We can’t stop all crime, but we can be as prepared as possible to save lives, protect property, bring criminals to justice and pull ourselves out of a disaster. That’s what these facilities are about.”

Since 1988, Wake County’s EOC has operated out the basement of a 1940s building in downtown Raleigh. COVID-19 operations originally began in this space, but after a few weeks it was clear that the EOC could not accommodate the growing group of emergency responders, health officials and communication teams. To enable the group to practice social distancing, they were moved to the ground floor of the Waverly F. Akins Wake County Office Building on Salisbury Street. What began as a temporary location will now be transformed into a high-tech nerve center, where public safety experts can use the latest technology to coordinate with local, state and national officials and keep residents updated in the midst of the next large emergency, disaster or major event.

“A year ago, I requested more than $10 million in funding for community projects that were developed by the people of Wake County, for the people of Wake County,” said Congresswoman Ross. “These projects touch people and places all across this county, a county that requires significant public investment to ensure that we can meet the needs of our growing population, and all of our people.”

The DNA lab will be the first local government DNA lab in the Triangle and the second facility of its kind in North Carolina. Currently, CCBI sends DNA evidence to the North Carolina State Lab, where caseloads can cause delays in processing evidence. The new lab will only process evidence for Wake County cases, allowing more timely and efficient results to help solve local crimes.  

“Securing federal funding is one of the most relevant and important things a member of Congress can do because critical projects like these could take much longer to complete,” said Congressman Price. “These are local endeavors, and this federal funding will have a direct local impact.”

Funding for the Projects
One million dollars of the $1.5 million in federal funding will go toward renovating the entire ground floor of the Wake County Office Building, compete with a state-of-the-art EOC to accommodate full emergency staffing, teleconferencing, partner agencies, digital information displays and social distancing. All new mechanical, electrical, plumbing, security and sprinkler systems will be installed with back-up systems to ensure the center can continue to operate during outages. When not in emergencies, the space will be occupied by the County’s Innovation Program, government conferencing and collaboration activities, and ongoing Employee Health Clinics. The total project cost is $8 million, with completion expected in late spring or early summer of 2023.

For the new DNA Lab, Wake County approved using $360,000 from court ordered lab fees for construction. The additional $500,000 from this federal appropriation will pay for the scientific equipment that will be installed in the lab. The only cost to local taxpayers moving forward will be the salaries of the three lab technicians. The new facility is expected to open in late 2022 or early 2023.

Click here for photos of the current EOC during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pictures of the progress on the DNA Lab construction underway.