May 21--NATCHEZ -- Natchez and Adams County's first responders agreed Tuesday to meet in three weeks to discuss three proposed plans for improving emergency communications between departments.
Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford Sr. presented the three proposals during an arranged discussion about consolidating dispatch services.
The meeting was between emergency management office officials, the Emergency 911 board, the Adams County Sheriff's Office, the Natchez Police Department, the Natchez Fire Department and volunteer fire chiefs.
Currently, all 911 calls are routed through the City of Natchez's dispatch center and have to be transferred to other jurisdictions as required. E911 board member Everard Baker said bringing all of the county's dispatch centers under one roof will help improve efficiency.
"If the city gets a call and they have to transfer it to the county and then duplicate that communication," he said "If they are all there, it will save time."
Baker said he's seen instances where dispatchers had to put a call on hold under the current system.
Former emergency management director Stan Owens -- who has handed over the reins of the department to Bradford but is still working there until the end of June -- said the aim of consolidation was to improve a system the system.
"The goal was to have the two dispatchers sitting next to each other to eliminate any communication errors," Owens said. "There was no problem we were reacting to, but the system would be improved."
Under the current system, calls stop being recorded when they are transferred from the city's 911 service, Owens said.
The sheriff's office used to have a public safety answering point (PSAP) -- the system through which 911 calls are routed -- but when the question of acquiring another one was raised, Owens said his understanding is now only one PSAP system is allowed per county.
The first plan Bradford presented was essentially the dispatch system now in place with a caveat that it would include rewriting some communications policy to clarify and make more efficient some dispatching policies, such as to fires outside the city limits.
During the meeting, some procedures and possible logistics solutions to improve dispatch to volunteer fire departments were discussed.
The second plan was for the county to budget $400,000 creating a separate consolidated dispatch center, where four teams of three dispatchers would work 12 hour shifts rotating every 28 days.
Under the second plan, the county would supply five of the employees, the city would supply seven and the E911 board would pay for a director, Bradford said.
The number of employees in the plan was based on volume of calls to each current center, he said.
Supervisor David Carter said the building Metro Narcotics is located in could be utilized for such a center, and Owens said most radio towers from the current dispatch center could be tied in with a simple T1 line at that location.
Bradford said the $400,000 startup estimate was likely high, but he would rather budget high and give money back than not have enough.
The third plan would be for the E911 board to lease the current city police dispatch area and use the same employee scheme as in plan 2 with the sheriff's office budgeting $135,000, the city budgeting $130 and the E911 board budgeting $140,000 for the center, Bradford said.
"It is attainable to reach on a specific timeline because (that location) is already set up with two consoles, and it is very cost effective and feasible with each department in staffing," he said. "The cons are possible political agendas and it may require hiring new dispatchers because somebody says, 'I don't want to do that' and quits."
Sheriff Chuck Mayfield and Natchez Police Chief Danny White said they had not come to the meeting prepared for such a presentation, and had been under the impression the meeting was going to focus on improving dispatch to firefighters.
"I am neither for or against this plan, this is just the first time I have heard it," Mayfield said. "I don't really see a duplication of services. (The city) is responding to their calls, and we are responding to ours."
The E911 board members apologized to the sheriff and chief, saying they have been working on a dispatch consolidation plan for six months under the impression law enforcement was behind the plan. Owens said he was also under that impression.
The sheriff, police and fire chiefs all agreed to meet again at the next E911 board meeting to discuss the plans after they have had a chance to review them with their staffs and form a response.
Copyright 2014 - The Natchez Democrat, Miss.
