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County dispatch fully operational
911 Operations Manager Amber Cantrill and assistant 911 director Yvonne Fox.
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BERNALILLO — As of early Oct. 22, all Sandoval County 911 and non-911 calls are running through the new dispatch center. Going back to July 1, when the center opened, that has not been the case.
County Manager Wayne Johnson announced the center is now fully operational at the regular county commission meeting Oct 22.
“It is my pleasure this evening to give you a little bit of good news with regard to dispatch. Starting at 9:15 this morning, the center started receiving all emergency and non-emergency calls, so we are fully operational, fully functional,” he said.
Johnson admitted the project has been frustrating but thanked the many entities and people that helped “get it across the finish line,” including city of Rio Rancho, Corrales and Bernalillo.
“The Public Safety Emergency Communications Center of Sandoval County (PSECC SC) is now receiving all emergency and non-emergency calls without any assistance from other dispatch organizations. According to Sandoval County, the technical issues with equipment vendors that had hampered the center’s functionality have now been resolved,” a release states.
“While our PSECC staff has been working 24/7 dispatching calls since July 1, 2025, 911 calls had to be transferred from the Rio Rancho dispatch to ours,” Johnson said.
Sandoval County Commission Chair Michael Meek said that “the PSECC SC is a collaborative effort among Sandoval County, the village of Corrales, the town of Bernalillo and the Pueblo of Santa Ana. We are fortunate that our PSECC partners share our commitment to public safety and the people of Sandoval County.”
“We appreciate the assistance of the city dispatch center during this transitional time,” Johnson continued.
According to Johnson, Public Safety Answering Points perform cooperatively with each other during critical incidents and challenges resulting from technical malfunctions, the release states.
“Collaboration is essential within the public safety community. Rio Rancho delivered help to us when we needed it, just as we continue to provide them with county radio consoles until their new equipment arrives,” Johnson shared.
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City of Rio Rancho Deputy City Manager Peter Wells confirmed that Rio Rancho dispatch is no longer handling those calls.
“Yesterday, vendors made the latest switchover attempt related to the new county dispatch center receiving all 911 calls that should be answered by this center. So far, the system/switch is stable and will continue to be monitored and tested. As a result, Rio Rancho dispatchers are no longer having to answer 100% of county 911 calls, which they did for most of July and since the beginning of August,” he wrote in an email Oct. 23.
The city dispatch had been handling about three calls per hour that should have been routed to the county center, based on percentages provided by Wells.
“From July 1, when the new county dispatch center was supposed to be fully operational, through October 22, Rio Rancho dispatchers had to handle 5,883 county 911 calls. This reflects 31% of the total 911 calls answered (18,981) by Rio Rancho dispatchers during this time period,” he wrote.
The PSECC of Sandoval County gives residents and visitors outside of Rio Rancho a dedicated 911 response that is tailored to the unique needs of small towns and rural communities, the release states. The non-emergency phone number for the dispatch center is 505-898-7585. Yvonne Fox, ENP, is the assistant 911 director, and Amber Cantril is the operations manager.
