June 7, 2007

By Virgil Hervey

Last year at this time, all options were still on the table as far as whether Yellow Springs could continue to provide a local police dispatcher service. A county-wide dispatch service was looming on the horizon with potential high-tech advantages and cost savings, Xenia dispatch was waiting in the wings as a possible low-cost fall-back, and it was still possible that the Village could keep its local dispatchers with their unique knowledge of the village and the people who live here. But keeping the local dispatchers seemed less likely, especially with the announced retirement plans of longtime dispatcher Norma Lewis.

But today, although Lewis did retire May 31, local dispatch is looking like the front runner, although the other options remain on the table. But, according to Yellow Springs Police Chief John Grote, the county-wide system seems on the verge of falling apart, and Xenia dispatch looks less cost effective after all.

Recently, the second phase of talks for the Greene County dispatch system came to an end, Grote said in a recent interview, and it’s clear that some of the larger departments, such as Sugarcreek and Beavercreek, are not going to participate, a development which bodes poorly for the entire project.

“If one big department drops out, the others are going to have to pick up the cost,” he said.

And other reasons for joining the county-wide system are also fading. While the advanced technology proposed for such a system would benefit Yellow Springs, the YSPD has upgraded some of its out-of-date equipment in the interim and more changes are just around the corner, he said.

Additionally, Grote feels that the share of the cost for the county-wide system determined for Yellow Springs is unfair. Yellow Springs’ share of the annual cost was figured to be $187,000, while Cedarville, which has a larger department, came in at only $5,900, he said. According to Grote, that works out to $55 per resident for Yellow Springs, as opposed to $1.50 per resident in Cedarville. The numbers are projected to go up every year.

The cost share difference between the departments, according to Grote, is linked to the Yellow Springs department receiving more calls than Cedarville’s, because the department performs more Village functions, such as taking utility calls, and accepting papers for other departments during off hours.

According to Grote, Sugarcreek’s share would be about $270,000, and Beavercreek would pay about $600,000.

The cost for Yellow Springs to participate in the county-wide dispatch system will go up even more as the larger departments drop out. According to Grote, the village currently spends about $200,000 per year for its dispatch system.

Even if the Village did go to a central dispatch system, he said, it would still have to keep someone here Monday through Friday to enter warrants and perform other record-keeping tasks.

If the Village chose to go with Xenia dispatch, it would cost the Village about $115,000 per year, once again, considerably more than Cedarville pays, and the Village would still have to maintain clerical personnel at the Bryan Center, he said.

Equipment upgrades have also made staying local more attractive. Recently, grant money enabled the department to put its mobile radio system on the 800 megahertz radio system to be compatible with others throughout the state.

The department may also be able to buy into a county-wide records management system and may have the opportunity to purchase some of the technology that would have been provided by central dispatch, such as the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, which would provide the kind of information that our local dispatchers now keep in their heads, as well as criminal history and satellite imagery of the locale.

The department is also in the process of putting laptop computers in its radio cars, allowing officers to prepare and submit their paperwork, including their daily reports, electronically, and giving them the ability to access information from their cars. If the department upgrades to electronic dispatch, it would allow officers to receive confidential information, such as house check details, on their computer screens, rather than having it sent over the radio.

According to Grote, Yellow Springs is one of just a few small departments in the state to be invited to attend a program on the electronic submission of crash reports to the state.

All of these recent technological advances may allow the Village to keep its local dispatchers at a savings, he said.

When Lewis retired, longtime dispatcher Larry Campbell, who previously worked evenings, switched to daytime hours. Other dispatch employees, all part-timers, are Randall Newsome, Ken Metz, Theresa Newton, Ruth Peterson and Dorothy Gibbs. And, according to Grote, a new part-time police officer/dispatcher has been hired and began training on Monday. Local resident Rita Check was recently hired for the night shift.

Check, who grew up in Cedarville, has been a resident of Yellow Springs for 20 years. Before taking the dispatcher’s job, she worked in the financial aid office at Antioch College. She has been on the job since March and just recently moved to the 11 p.m.–7 a.m. shift. She has been putting in 32–40 hours per week as a part-timer.

Check said she is amazed how the police officers seem to know everyone’s name and their histories.

“Personal attention is part of the Yellow Springs charm,” she said. “It makes the people feel comfortable.”

Contact: vhervey@ysnews.com