State police unveil new dispatch consolidation in Litchfield (with video, map)

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Berkshire370

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From:
The Register Citizen: Northwest Connecticut's Daily Newspaper
Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2012
.
LITCHFIELD — State police troopers’ day-to-day operations at Southbury’s Troop A
and North Canaan’s Troop B will remain the same this week, although dispatchers from
each station will change Friday as
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
(DESPP) officials take the first step in consolidating dispatching locations.
On Wednesday, administrators from DESPP and Connecticut State Police announced the
official dispatching move inside the Litchfield-based Troop L barracks – the new
home of Troop A and B dispatchers.
Full story:
State police unveil new dispatch consolidation in Litchfield (with video, map)- The Register Citizen
 

APX7500X2

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The dispatchers are yelling about it being detrimental to Public Safety because they don’t want to loose their jobs…It would be much better to argue on the positive side to keep jobs than use BS
LA County Sherriff= 1 Dispatch Center 4.3 Million people
CSP= 10 Dispatch centers 3.2 Million people
This can go on and on as there are many places that cover a larger area or more population that use 1 dispatch center and it works better and is better for public safety.
Be proactive, The unions should be helping members keep jobs instead of digging in and just getting people let go.
Propose a solution, maybe 3 CSP dispatch centers (East, West, Central) consolidate the C-Med system into those centers also, bring C-med back to what its made for, Ambulance to hospital comms only.
Now for the totally crazy part. The same 3 centers do Fire & EMS dispatch also for those areas.
I know here it comes “our department is to busy for a consolidated center!!!
NYC Fire FDNY…….3 Dispatch centers (maybe 2 soon) for over 9 million people.
LA County 1 dispatch center 4.3 million people (they are busier than Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Stamford and so on put together)
Oh and we would save millions in tax money per year just on 911 PSAPs
Just thnk how much less it is to support and outfit 3 PSAPs instead of 106
 

zerg901

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How about one 911 Center per county in Connecticut? There would be a dozen 911 centers, and they could backup each other. They could do all of the local and State comms. Or - just one 911 Center for the entire state, maybe with 1 hot backup 911 Center. I bet that at 3 AM on some nights there would be Zero calls working.
 

N1SQB

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Head spinning here!

Ok Let's see if I folllow this correctly! Troops A,B, are all out of Troop L in Litchfield. Next to merge are Troops C,D,E,and K. Troop G and Bradley Airport Troopers will not change. That leaves Troop H, F, and I up in the air right now. Quite honestly, I'm surprised Troop I is even still open. Well, we will have to see what happens next. I was not aware of a DESPP existing. Is this something recently created?

Manny
 

millrad

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These consolidations make sense in theory and and on paper, but none of the PSAPs - even the really small ones that handle a few 911 calls a day - want to relinquish local control. Land of steady habits, and just plain stubborn.
 

millrad

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Won't work. The major cities, Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Waterbury need their own dispatch centers. Integrating them into some kind of regional operation would only make things worse.
 

APX7500X2

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Won't work. The major cities, Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Waterbury need their own dispatch centers. Integrating them into some kind of regional operation would only make things worse.

How do you figure that??

LA County has 4.3 million people, The fire department is busier than all those you mention put together and they do it out of 1 dispatch center.

Small thinking = Small ideas

Their are 100s of dispatch centers serving a larger population than all of Connecticut put together.
FDNY is doing it with 3 dispatch centers now...9+ Million people 500k + calls
How about FDNY EMS 1 dispatch center 1+ Million calls

Its sad people have trouble thinking of a dispatch center with 200 console positions but it happens and works very well.
 

kmacinct

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People, (Public and Professional) keep confusing PSAP's with Dispatch centers.

These places, constantly references as "a single 911 center for an entire area" is exactly that - a 9-1-1 Center - a clearing house for emergency calls - they 'sort' and most of the time 'forward' to the correct area 'Dispatch" center.

Yes, there are a number of versions that can be done - but this is Connecticut - we dont share, we dont consolidate - if my neighboring town get's something new and cool, I have to get TWO of them - and STILL not share.

Can there be one (or 3) PSAP's in the State of 9-1-1 - sure - but you the service WILL BE decreased - there will be little to no local knowledge. You cannot use the excuse "Technology" and "Enhances 9-1-1" will pinpoint a location - Trust me - it doesnst work for more then 50% of the cellular calls that come in.
Local knowledge, and local service does not have a price attached to it - and that is all that matters, using this "TOP DOWN" system. What does it cost?

OK - my rant done..
 

N1SQB

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People, (Public and Professional) keep confusing PSAP's with Dispatch centers.

These places, constantly references as "a single 911 center for an entire area" is exactly that - a 9-1-1 Center - a clearing house for emergency calls - they 'sort' and most of the time 'forward' to the correct area 'Dispatch" center.

Yes, there are a number of versions that can be done - but this is Connecticut - we dont share, we dont consolidate - if my neighboring town get's something new and cool, I have to get TWO of them - and STILL not share.

Can there be one (or 3) PSAP's in the State of 9-1-1 - sure - but you the service WILL BE decreased - there will be little to no local knowledge. You cannot use the excuse "Technology" and "Enhances 9-1-1" will pinpoint a location - Trust me - it doesnst work for more then 50% of the cellular calls that come in.
Local knowledge, and local service does not have a price attached to it - and that is all that matters, using this "TOP DOWN" system. What does it cost?

OK - my rant done..

People, not centers, are the problem in this state! L.A. County can make it to work out there because their mentality is different. County systems work in other states. CT. stopped having a county system eons ago! Wrong move in my opinion but it's neither here nor there now, it's a moot point! CT. has major "issues" to work out in the "sharing resourses and working together" dept. Fix THAT and you might have a shot at all these proposed changes working out for the better. If you think that is going to happen any time soon, I have a bridge to sell you, really cheap too!!!!

Manny
 
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scollier

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ropose a solution, maybe 3 CSP dispatch centers (East, West, Central) consolidate the C-Med system into those centers also, bring C-med back to what its made for, Ambulance to hospital comms only.

--Much easier for CMed to handle medical 911s since they are emt trained and the units have to call in anyway. Also takes the thought of a lawsuit off the minds of towns employing dispatchers that might not be properly trained to handle medical calls. Plus also takes the pressure off police dispatchers who have to switch between the beligerant drunk calling up and the worried wife giving her husband over the phone CPR.

I actually had to call the pd back on 911 from the routine # so he could switch me over to Cmed! LOL.

As for FDs, you are right as to towns don't want to loose control to cmed who unfortunately has to work by "state protocols". I remember when the disp told Smitty that cmed said she had to dispatch the fd to car vs bldg.... Guess what the reply was... DON'T SEND THE D*** FIRE DEPARTMENT! LOL.
 

izzyj4

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Having worked at both C-MED New Haven and also Troop I, I can understand both the consolidation side and the side to remain separate.

We already have regional centers in CT that work: Valley Shore, Willimantic Switch Board, Quinebaug valley Dispatch, LCD, and Tolland County Dispatch to name a few. Also the three busiest C-MED centers are South West (Lower Fairfield County), South Central (C-MED New Haven) and North Central (Hartford County). In the North West corner you have LCD and Northwest Public Safety the control the C-MED and the Eastern part of the state, well there are 5 separate C-MED control Centers that only control 1 or 2 hospitals!!

When I worked at C-MED New Haven, we direct dispatched four fire departments and five EMS agencies. Unfortunately two fire department left and the reason was all political (both sides), that was a fact. Now by what I'm hearing those two moves are begin regretted because of the proverbial "grass isn't greener on the other side" syndrome on some aspects, not all. The problem then is the same now, do more with less. EMS dispatchign was easy, all the same way but the fire end, there were 4 different ways us as dispatchers had to do it. Sorry, one uniform way is the only way to go and we tried to bring that to light. BUT those in charge of those departments kept saying "WE ARE PAYING YOU TO DO IT OUR WAY!" Crock of digested Shepard's pie if I say so myself. The added call volume swamped us, especially if we ended up with a working fire or a MCI. We did not have enough people to properly do our job and handle everything. Eventually staffing was re-aligned and helped make up for some of the problems.

Troop I is there still because it has a purpose, it covers a portion of the Central district that is not easily accessed by Troops H, A or G, though that argument has always been back and forth. The question with Troop I began when they decided to move Troop G from Westport up to Bridgeport making them a "super troop" and then re-assigning Troop I's stretch of I-95 from Milford to the East Haven / Branford line and I-91 from the split to just south of Exit 3 (the ramps are Troop I's) over to G. But what people do not realize is that Troop G only covers the highway as described and all the other stuff (the courts, detective bureau, Major Crime, ect.) is still covered by Troop I. Also Troop I has three resident trooper towns (Prospect, Beacon Falls and Bethany), small compared to the north east and north west portions of the state.

Consolidating Troop B and L together was talked about years ago. For those who don't know, Troop B is located in North Canaan (outside of Canaan village) and is closer to the Mass boarder. The problem is now too is everyone is promoting "community policing" and they get the sense of the dispatchers moving out to their area is going to take a longer response. Obviously that is not the case but its not explained correctly. Their call volume together is not even half of Troop I's or a quarter of Troop G or H's. As for the dispatchers, when I was there there were supposed to be six dispatchers per troop, two for each shift on a rotating basis 5 on, 3 off with two overlap days. The desk is always manned by a trooper as that is the SOP or a law requirement because of NCIC / Collect (cannot remember for sure which) If a dispatcher's position was open, it would be filled by another dispatcher from that troop, then open up to other troop's dispatchers, then by a trooper on OT. When I worked there the 6th position was not filled because of budget cuts, the position was still there but not filled.

Each troop receives the 911s from the cell towers along the highways, if they cover any highway. If the cell tower is located in the town, then it goes to the local PSAP. Great set up huh?????

You cannot compare a large dispatch center like NYC or LA to CSP or any other type of agency in CT. However those large "county" or "regional" centers still do the same thing that dispatch center do here. Instead of a Troop transferring to a local agency or FD / C-MED dispatch center, they do and intra-transfer. The call is answered by the call taker, they take the information, then the information and the call is transferred to PD, EMS or FD, or it may just transfer the information.

No matter what, can consolidation of dispatch centers be done, yes. But the unfortunate thing that public safety is always a knee jerk reaction and consolidation will never be properly implemented correctly.
 
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