LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Sending photos and videos to 911 will soon be a reality, as the Las Vegas Valley’s 911 system braces for a digital upgrade that will eventually cost all phone bill holders around $0.45 a month.
The upgraded system is called NextGeneration 911, and many states nationwide have already completed or started integration into 911 systems.
An April 2024 outage in Nevada and other states prompted Las Vegas Valley leaders to finally look into upgrades and implement an option for a 911 surcharge across the Valley. A crew in Missouri that cut a fiberoptic line caused the outage across several states.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste: that really motivated us to find a solution,” said Chief Financial Officer Richard Hoggan of LVMPD. “What we’re implementing now is a NEXTGEN solution that is all digitally based,” Hoggan said.
Six dispatch or communications centers all across the Valley are all still analog-based, Hoggan said.
Many government, medical, or other aging facilities still rely on analog phone systems because of the costs of upgrades.
Only 11 states have fully or almost fully integrated NextGen 911 into all dispatch centers, and Hoggan said the reason is because of the financial costs.
In 2015, the Nevada legislature amended a law to allow Clark County to create a 911 committee to implement a 911 surcharge for upgrades. Previously, state law only allowed counties with smaller populations to pursue a surcharge.
“If we’re embarking on a a project to improve 911 services and the ability of responders to get there more quickly, to improve the accuracy of the location of the cell phone, and to have a redundant facility, those are all things that will be paid for, or at least enhanced by this fee,” Hoggan said.
The newly-created 911 Committee is in charge of implementing a possible $0.45 surcharge for all landlines and cell phone lines. The committee will oversee a Business Impact Study, and the findings will be presented to the Clark County Commission.
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