Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 (also known as NetCom) was created in 1996 as a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) to provide public safety and 9-1-1 dispatch services for Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Cruz Police and Fire Departments, Watsonville Police and Fire Departments, and Capitola Police Department. Along with these “owners” of the JPA, we also provide services to all the Fire Districts in Santa Cruz County and American Medical Response (the local paramedic and ambulance transport provider). In 2011, NetCom started providing this same dispatching service to San Benito County, to include Hollister Police, San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, Hollister Fire, and American Medical Response. Our Mission: "Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 is dedicated to serving as the vital link between the public and public safety organizations through responsiveness and technical excellence while in partnership with its Users and employees." Always looking to see if we can utilize modern technology to better serve our community, we were one of the first PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) in California to enable text to 9-1-1, ensuring that our hearing and speech-impaired community could reach us without delay. In 2019, we deployed a software solution to help us more accurately pinpoint the location of a 9-1-1 wireless caller based on their actual location. Wireless 9-1-1 calls make up 80% of all calls received; it is crucial that we are able to locate the caller quickly and accurately. We are the primary PSAP for Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties. As a primary PSAP, we are the first first-responder our community reaches during a 9-1-1 call or one of the 10-digit non-emergency phone numbers for our User agencies. We are the piece of the puzzle that connects over 330,000 residents and numerous visitors to much-needed resources by processing about 600,000 telephone calls per year.