County Executive Fitzgerald's statement on county-wide dispatch consolidation study

From the inbox (bolding & underlining not in original)

STUDY SUGGESTS CONSOLIDATING 9-1-1 SYSTEMS TO CUT COSTS
TO TAXPAYERS

CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Safety and Justice Services released this week their Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Assessment which assessed the current status of the forty-seven Public Safety Answering Points, or Dispatch Centers, in Cuyahoga County. The assessment looked at all jurisdictions within Cuyahoga County to get the best understanding of the current PSAP system and recommends reducing the number of PSAPs and upgrading 9-1-1 hardware.

“The notion that there are 47 dispatch centers in Cuyahoga County alone is outdated and inefficient,” said FitzGerald.  “This county has the most number of PSAPs within one county in the entire State of Ohio, and this study has recommended ways for us to move forward in reducing the number of dispatch centers in an effort to provide more efficient services at a lower cost to our residents.”

The PSAP assessment made recommendations for technology improvements to the 9-1-1 infrastructure, organizational changes to the Cuyahoga Emergency Communications System and suggests methods for regional consolidation as a way to increase dispatching efficiency.  Throughout the 134 workstations in the County, there are 475 dispatchers and call takers.  The average cost to operate a PSAP is $509,498, excluding the city of Cleveland, where it costs $4,438,593 to operate their PSAP.
 
“This assessment is essential to moving forward in upgrading and enhancing Cuyahoga County’s 9-1-1 system,” said Deputy Chief of Staff Norberto Colón.  “It puts us in a position to upgrade existing technology and become a statewide model for dispatching. We are looking forward to working with all of the jurisdictions within the County to make the biggest impact on the safety of our citizens.”

The assessment can be found at: http://ja.cuyahogacounty.us/en-us/publications.aspx