Plymouth Police Department has recently begun its transition into Centralized Dispatch. Central Dispatch located within the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Tom Chamberlin has been dispatching for Plymouth Police full time on the midnight shift since the first of January.
Currently, during the midnight hours, a call placed to the City PD’s 936-2126 phone number will receive an automated voice recording that will give them the option of connecting to central dispatch should they need an officer. Likewise, if a resident should go to the Plymouth station there is a phone in the lobby that will connect them directly to central dispatch. This system has been operational the last couple of months and has been running smoothly. Beginning in late February central dispatch will begin to take over two days of Plymouth’s second shifts per week and work towards absorbing the entire shift by June. The same type of slow transition will take place for the day shift with the goal of central dispatch acting as the sole communication for Plymouth Officers this summer.
Central dispatch’s main benefit to our community is officer safety. Each officer and department using central dispatch will operate on the same software. Meaning the information within their mobile data units (computers) and information coming from dispatchers will be one in the same. This will eliminate radio duplication as well as increase the integrity of communication from dispatch to officer. Another benefit is the cost savings as Plymouth Police Department’s budget will not need to include the manpower to dispatch during these three shifts.
Central dispatch currently dispatches for 25 police, fire and ems agencies in Marshall County which includes the Plymouth Fire/EMS Department. Once Plymouth Police department is completely absorbed, Bremen Police, Fire and EMS will be the only agencies in Marshall County communicating outside of central dispatch.
