Plymouth Police Chief Dave Bacon and Marshall County Sheriff Tom Chamberlin updated member of the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety on central dispatch.
The discussion to have central dispatch in Marshall County and Plymouth to share in it was started over four years ago according to Chief Bacon. He said, “Part of us moving towards that was the $50,000 software package I brought to you last year. It is the same software that County Sheriff’s Department uses.” The software is in place in the city’s police car laptops and MCT’s so CAD (computer aided dispatch) is operational.
Bacon said a dispatcher left the department in the fall and went to another city department and he chose not to replace her. He recently received word that another dispatcher that has been with the department for 39 ½ years will be retiring the end of March. He said he’s been making due with his current staff.
In January the county’s dispatch center began dispatching third shift calls and a phone was installed in the lobby of the PD for walk-ins. Those requests for service will be answered at the county’s dispatch center. Phone calls into the Plymouth Police Department during third shift will also be answered by the county.
Bacon said, “The big reason for this is officer safety.” He continued, “Being on the same software system with the county allows us to share our information and their information is available to all officer working. That was never the case before.” The Chief also explained the inadequacies of the current dispatch system and records management system.
Sheriff Chamberlin said he’s been looking at central dispatch a lot longer and when building the new Sheriff’s Department it was designed for future growth in dispatching so there would be enough room and infrastructure to dispatch for the whole county.
Chamberlin said, “As we moves forward we hope to encompass all the fire and EMS departments within the county.”
The Sheriff said he has the ability to have four dispatchers on duty at a time and bringing on a department the size of Plymouth will not require him to add any additional personnel.
Councilman Don Ecker asked if central dispatch had been proposed with all the communities in the county and Chamberlin said, “Four years ago I was in front of all the town councils and discussed central dispatch.” He said he tried to encourage them to consider joining when they needed to update equipment and software or add personnel. The sheriff noted that the county has been dispatching Argos since 1985.
Mayor Senter asked about a time frame and Chamberlin said, second shift will start in February picking up the two days when the full time dispatcher is on their days off and during March and April they will absorb the rest of second shift and first shift the later part of May and early June, slowly moving it completion.
