The City of Dunwoody is set to pull out of our E911 system to join up with ChatComm, a private E911 system that serves Sandy Springs and Johns Creek.
Even-though it will cost more money, Dunwoody believes "you get what you pay for".
Police Chief Billy Grogan said: “I don’t know if I have the confidence that DeKalb will be able to deliver on their promises,”. Welcome to our nightmare Chief Grogan.
Click here for the Dunwoody Patch blog.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
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10 comments:
Go Dunwoody go! Take control of your own destiny and wave good bye to the crooks!
I understand why a lot Officers would be glad if Dunwoody PD left our 911 system, but there is a lot more to this that isn’t being brought up. If Dunwoody leaves then all of the 911 fees collected in Dunwoody go with them because they would be the Primary 911 center. BUT DeKalb would still have the responsibility, and cost associated with it, of dispatching Fire and EMS in Dunwoody. So the county would still have to provide the Fire and EMS dispatch service it does now, but would receive NO FUNDING. Also if a citizen in Dunwoody were to call 911 for a Fire or EMS emergency the call would go to the new call center where the operators would screen the call, determine that a Fire or EMS dispatch was needed, then transfer the call to our 911 center. Our 911 center then would review the information and dispatch Fire or EMS. This could drastically delay Fire and EMS response which obviously could have serious consequences.
There is no way that Dunwoody can argue that leaving our 911 is a positive move for the citizens of Dunwoody. Our answer time is around 5 seconds; I highly doubt that the new 911 centers time is significantly better. So in the end Dunwoody would end up paying over a million dollars for no improvement in service and serious delays in dispatch of Fire and EMS. How is that a good move for the city or its citizens?
I've thought for some time that if Dunwoody could get the funds together that they would start their own fire and EMS. Maybe this is a sign that may happen. I agree that this will put srain on the county by taking away tax base while the county still funds their fire and EMS coverage. I don't know exactly how the tax codes are written in that regard for places like Dunwoody, Clarkston, etc, but they should not be able to get fire and EMS coverage at the county's expense. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
Anon 2 - You said "There is no way that Dunwoody can argue that leaving our 911 is a positive move for the citizens of Dunwoody. (Our answer time is around 5 seconds); I highly doubt that the new 911 centers time is significantly better.
Great, you can answer the phone!! Unfortunately it takes you anywhere between 2-10 minutes to actually dispatch the call between lack of dispatchers, call takes and too many units on the radio. Oh and lets not forget your lack of ability to proeprty prioritize calls for service. As a citizen of Dunwoody I am positive the change would be a move in the right direction...
The 911 fees associated with landlines and cellphones were originally meant for 911 not dispatching. Yes, they are two different things. Many cities and counties have relied on these funds to subsides the cost of dispatching. I for one don't blame Dunwoody.
If Dunwoody goes then how would they pay for the 3 to 4 Fire Stations that are in the City? What about the firefighters and paramedics? Due to staffing issues, NO Dunwoody doesn't have a dedicated dispatcher but when DeKalb 911 gets more people,they should have an dispatcher for the city. Think Long And HARD DUNWOODY
DFW AREA
At one time I was the Chief in a small city. The county had applied for and received all the 911 grants to install and maintain the system. Soon after becoming the chief the Sheriff announced that he no longer wanted to dispatch calls to the small cities. They wanted to charge us for dispatching services. They had the issue on the agenda for their next meeting.
At the meeting they laid out their case that the calls received by the 911 system for us put a strain on their dispatch system. I might inject here that the radio traffic was running about 8%, meaning the radio was silent 92% of the time.
I was the first to speak in rebuttal of their idea. I explained that I had no money in my budget and didn't intend to add any. I then asked the sheriff, "If you are receiving my 911 calls are you going to refuse to dispatch my officers or answer the calls yourself?"
The sheriff looked at the commissioners, there was a quick off microphone huddle and the matter was dropped.
None of them had thought through the process.
3:51 - You don't consider more than a year long and hard enough to consider the decision ??
To Dunwoody resident (anon 12:22pm). "it takes you anywhere between 2-10 minutes to actually dispatch the call between lack of dispatchers, call takes and too many units on the radio. Oh and lets not forget your lack of ability to proeprty prioritize calls for service". 2 minutes is about the national average.I'm sure that when Chattcom's area of resonsibilty goew their call processing time will grow too. Secondly the county's time is skewed because there is often a need to connect to the language line, the need to give the caller medical protocols and etc. Third if you believe that you can " proeprty prioritize calls for service" there are numerous job openings at the 911 center.
The change will hurt Dunwoody in the long run on "hot" calls. As of right now, the North units hear all of Dunwoody's calls and can assist immediately. Go to the new 911 center and it will take forever for DKPD to come help and I don't think Sandy Springs is around the corner to cover their backs. I know of several armed robberies where DKPD assisted and without them, the perps would never have been caught. Grogan better think deep and hard before making this mistake.
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