MA Towns' Dispatchers Prepare for Regional 9-1-1 District
By Josie Albertson-Grove
Source The Enterprise, Brockton, Mass.
EASTON, MA—Dispatchers at the Easton Police Department pick up 9-1-1 calls and work with people who walk into the police station.
But starting next summer, Easton will work with the towns of Norton, Mansfield and Foxboro as part of the new Southeastern Massachusetts Regional 9-1-1 District.
Foxboro and Mansfield will start regional dispatching on July 1, with a pool of 13 dispatchers working both towns from the Foxboro public safety building. The regional dispatch district is renovating another building in Foxboro, which will eventually house dispatchers for all four towns. Easton and Norton will join the regional dispatch group in the summer of 2020.
William Keegan Jr., the town manager of Foxboro, chairs a board that oversees the regional dispatch group. Getting the dispatch center up and running has been a challenge, he said, but he thinks it will be worth the effort. Working together, Keegan said, the four towns can afford more advanced technology than they buy alone. Better technology will result in better responses, he said.
"We firmly believe this is a tremendous opportunity and value," Keegan said.
Robert Verdone, executive director of the regional dispatch group, said even though Easton will not be part of the dispatch center until next year, the town has been part of the planning since the beginning.
Experienced dispatchers have been hired from Mansfield and Foxboro, and more will be hired next year from the ranks of Easton and Norton dispatchers. All dispatchers will have to serve all four towns.
To learn the geography of Easton, the dispatchers have been riding with police officers and firefighters. Verdone said they have been paying particular attention to Easton's school campuses, larger apartment complexes and nursing homes.
Learning a new town is part of the job, Verdone said. Even now, many dispatchers do not live in the towns where they work, so they had to learn the geography when they were hired.
"They learn it and they learn it well," he said.
Thirteen dispatchers have been hired, and another 12 to 13 will be hired next year, Verdone said. There will be between seven and nine dispatchers on duty at any time. They will work 12-hour shifts, and be on for four days and then off for four days, he said.
Wicked Local reporter Donna Whitehead contributed to this report.
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