Dispatch Center

New to the forum and have seen how helpful everyone is. I am an Assistant Chief at 1 department, and a dispatch supervisor at another department. I have been in the communications field for 6 years and now I have an idea for some of the local departments, both police and fire/EMS. I would like to investigate starting a dispatching facility locally and right now have 3-4 entities that are interrested in this facility. I have herd that there is federal grant money available for an undertaking of this nature, but cannot locate a clear answer on the availability nor the proceedure for obtaining them. I was wondering if anyone in this forum has any experience with creating a new dispatch facility, and along with that, the steps that they took to create such.

That is a huge undertaking as you probably well know. The best thing you can probbaly do is contact and meet with some of your local PSAP Directors and see if any of them have started their own facilities. They will probably also have info on available grants you can apply for. I would also recommend joining APCO as they have resources you can use.