Federal law enforcement and public safety agencies will use Dallas County's newly-opened emergency operations center as a command hub during the upcoming RNC midterm convention.
The joint operations center, or JOC, will remain staffed by local employees who regularly work in the state of the art facility, like Dallas County homeland security, during the Republican National Committee midterm convention Sept. 9-10 at the American Airlines Center.
Federal agencies that will use the center daily as their primary office and command headquarters include the U.S. Marshals and CIA, County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said.
"We are working not with the Republican National Convention, but with the Capitol Police, the FBI, DHS, and the Secret Service — so hosting them, and then making declarations if something bad were to happen," he said.
"...We're not having to rely on the RNC or like you might have to rely on somebody that's throwing a convention that’s gonna pay for something," Jenkins said. "What we're dealing with are federal agencies that we deal with pretty much every day."
Christina Foley, Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service Dallas Field Office, said like with the FIFA World Cup, drone and air space restrictions will be in place.
Pilots should check the Notice to Air Missions for updates, she said.
More radio towers will also be used throughout the area.
County leaders have no plans to add public safety staff, like sheriff's deputies and fire marshals.
If they are needed, they will be paid extra, said County Administrator Darry Martin.
"If the county does utilize any hourly resources that need overtime, I will certainly be billing for overtime for whoever the city is also going to be billing for over time, whether that's the Republican National Convention or whoever," he said.
Regular emergency operations center staff likely might work before and after normal business hours, but won't be paid extra because they are all salaried.
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