Wake County’s public safety agencies are receiving $1.5 million in federal funding for two projects.
About $500,000 will be support the construction of a 950-sq. ft. DNA testing lab within the Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification on Hammond Road, WRAL-TV reported, citing the announcement from Congressmen David Price and Deborah Ross.
The county is also getting a new emergency operations center, with $1 million in federal funding.
During the pandemic, emergency management personnel were housed in a small room in the Waverly F. Akins office building.
The center will be relocated into a newly renovated, much larger space in the county building.
“We want to have a world class facility for those charged with our safety,” says Matt Calabria, county commissioner. “We have got to protect the people who protect us. We have to empower them to do their jobs to the best of their ability.”