New and improved police communications bureau unveiled to the tune of #036;1 million

Staff

Published Sunday, August 29, 2004

Suffolk News-Herald

The city's first line of defense - the 911 emergency dispatch team - is armed with new technology for protecting citizens.

The Suffolk Police Department on Friday unveiled its new and improved emergency operations center, equipped with nearly $1 million in high-tech emergency-dispatching equipment.

"All of the upgrades have actually brought us into the 21st-century," said Sgt. J.J. Marx. "We now have a state-of-the-art system again."

The system was last replaced in 1990. Last year, Motorola stopped providing technical support and making repair parts for that system.

"At that time, it was state of the art as technology goes," Marx said. "But technology changed so much that by last year, it was really starting to go. I'm glad the city went ahead with this project. I'm proud of it and believe it is going to help dispatchers with their jobs."

The city essentially gutted the communications center, a small windowless room located in the heart of police department's headquarters on Market Street.

Because of all the high-tech equipment, the new system is more computer-driven than the previous one, making it more user-friendly to dispatchers, Marx said.

The new desk consoles are equipped to make dispatchers more comfortable on the job, Marx said. The height of desks can be adjusted, giving dispatchers the freedom to sit or stand while at work.

Because of the technical equipment kept in the room, it has to stay cool all the time. Now, Marx said, each work station comes with a small heater.

"When they call 911, most people don't realize what the person goes through on the other end of the line," Marx said. "Those dispatchers hold peoples' lives in their hands when they work from that little room.

"A lot of people will say the first line of defense is the uniformed patrol officer because he's the first person who responds," he said. "But the first line of defense is actually the dispatchers. They are the first ones who talk to callers and relate the information to the officers."

With the city's rapid growth, the emergency operations center is receiving an increasing number of calls annually, Marx said. From July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004, dispatchers handled more than 226,000 incoming calls. Throw in the number of outgoing calls and that total jumps to around 400,000, he added.

Currently, the department has 18 dispatchers and three supervisors. The city will be hiring three call takers, who will answer the 911 calls and put them though to dispatchers to handle. Eventually, more dispatchers will be needed.

"In my opinion, we are definitely going to have to grow," Marx said. "As the city - particularly the north end - continues to boom, I believes more operators are going to be required."

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