The Unified Operations Center, 911

The Unified Operations Center, 911, will help the security staff to coordinate and respond to emergencies within a few minutes, thanks to the latest technology used for the system.

Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman Al-Saleh, commander of the National Operation’s Center in the Ministry of Interior, said latest cameras have been installed at holy sites to serve Umrah and Haj pilgrims.

“The unified operations project represents a quantum leap in security work. The center has been launched in Makkah, Taif and Jeddah to contribute to speedy coordination between security bodies and other supporting services,” he told local media.

The project was launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif during the Haj season last year through a number of phases. It started with road security patrols, and was then introduced to other security sectors, such as Civil Defense, traffic and security patrols.

Al-Saleh pointed out the secretariat of security planning and development in the Ministry of Interior is responsible for the project, while the National Operations Center is delegated the task of its operation.

The project was launched from Makkah and then Taif, while it was launched in Jeddah on Saturday.

The project will be operational after 10 days in certain parts of the Makkah Province, and work will be finalized on Aug. 20, to bring the whole of Makkah Province under the emergency number 911.

The government has put in a lot of efforts in the preparation of this project, which is housed in the government complex, which was constructed by the Ministry of Finance in the Al-Awali area in Makkah, said Al-Saleh.

The operations room in Makkah manages security operations in all parts of the Kingdom, and there are other projects that will be implemented in phases in other cities. He revealed that the number 911 was carefully chosen because it is different from previous emergency numbers, in addition to it being popular globally.

Advanced systems have been used in the project to guarantee speedy response and supervision of workers’ performance, which is a very important requirement for the success and smooth running of the operations.

Al-Saleh said the unified center has a number of supporting bodies, such as the Ministry of Health, Red Crescent, water company, electricity and the Ministry of Transport. He confirmed that these bodies offer support to security bodies only during emergencies.

The center includes a directorate for Haj and Umrah, called crisis management. There are advanced cameras at the holy sites.

911 is the emergency number in Makkah Province and anyone who calls this number from inside the Kingdom will be answered from the operations center in Makkah.

A number of officers have been enrolled for a training course in King Fahad Security College and will be employed in the center as soon as they graduate.

Al-Saleh confirmed that some people were sent to China and Germany to study the system and technology used in the center. “We don’t underestimate the efforts of previous operations’ rooms. Their experience over the years is appreciable,” added Al-Saleh.