Sumner council considers dispatch future
Published 7:13 pm Monday, January 19, 2009
The disptach center will need an equipment upgrade by 2012
At a Jan. 12 study session, Sumner City Council members heard the results of a study of the city’s police dispatch center meant to identify and assess areas of improvement.
Joe Blaschka and Dave Magnenat, consultants from ADCOMM Engineering Company, based in Bothell, and Karen Reed of Karen Reed Consulting, based in Seattle, discussed what is important to the city in a dispatch center and possible changes to the operation, although the study session was meant to be informative only.
The only certain change is a federal mandate requiring communication using narrowband frequency by 2012, which will require an equipment upgrade for Sumner.
Discussion of the dispatch center at the study session focused on such facets of the system. The council is considering things like the level of service, cost of service and who is responsible for the system.
Council members were given a packet containing information about what is important to people in various aspects of a dispatch center. While there is no decision yet on whether a change will occur with the dispatch, various scenarios were presented.
In regard to the level of service, the packet stated it’s important for dispatchers to be familiar with the community.
Reed used an example in which a dispatcher with a knowledge of community locations could recognize a popular phrase for a specific area quicker than being told the numbered address. Dispatchers’ familiarity with the area would also mean a dispatcher knows travel routes and specific business locations.
A crucial aspect of service quality is the ability of different entities to communicate with each other, meaning the equipment used by the fire department, police, public utilities and other groups will need to be compatible.
Currently, Sumner’s dispatch transmits on VHF and the dispatch covers the area of Sumner only.
If the city becomes a service provider to other jurisdictions or becomes a customer of another service provider, council may need to examine which models of partnership or client relationship are most favorable.
The council plans to address this issue at future sessions.
Reach Chaz Holmes at cholmes@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald or 360-802-8208.
