Published: January 15, 2008 09:59 am            

911 Center discusses a move

The Mayes County 911 Center could be moving from MidAmerica Industrial Park to the courthouse.

911 Center Director Rick Langkamp said the idea is to have the 911 center in the same place as the dispatch point for the entire county.

The technology the 911 center has available would be useful to dispatchers at the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office.

Langkamp explained when a 911 call is made from anywhere outside of Pryor, the call goes to the 911 center in the industrial park.

When the 911 operator gets the call, information about where the call is coming from, including address and contact information, is displayed on the computer.

If the call is for a police department or sheriff’s office, the call is transferred directly to them, but the dispatchers do not have access to the information on the computer which the 911 operator can see.

The sheriff’s office does have access to the 911 mapping system, but doesn’t have the software which will pinpoint a caller’s location on the map.

Langkamp said the sheriff’s office dispatches for most agencies throughout the county, except for Pryor. During the day, Chouteau, Locust Grove and Salina operate their own dispatch centers but at night the county takes over all dispatching.

If the 911 center moved to the sheriff’s office, Langkamp said both the 911 center and police agencies would benefit.

He explained the 911 center provides dispatching services to MESTA and all county fire departments except Pryor and Locust Grove. Since the county provides dispatch services to every police entity in the county except Pryor, the move would centralize most 911 calls and dispatching services.

He said instead of the 911 center having to call the sheriff’s office and waste time transferring calls, the 911 operator could turn to the person sitting next to them to request an officer or vice versa.

Often, Langkamp said MESTA personnel get on scene and discover they need an officer or an officer on scene needs to request an ambulance. Being able to dispatch both in the same area can cut down on response time and the accuracy of information being relayed.

Moving the 911 center to the sheriff’s office would not combine the two departments. Langkamp said the sheriff’s office dispatchers would still be employees of the sheriff’s office and the 911 center would have their own operator and dispatcher as well. The 911 center’s equipment can already handle the move.

He said the 911 center already has access to two positions on the software.

Langkamp explained two stations have the software capability to access the 911 mapping software with the pinpointed location and information from the caller on the screen.

The sheriff’s office dispatcher would be able to use one position and the 911 center dispatcher would use the other station.

When he began looking into combining the dispatch center with the 911 center, he considered possible

locations.

Langkamp said moving the 911 center to the sheriff’s office would be the most feasible since police agencies need access to services at the courthouse such as warrants. Also, Langkamp said the courthouse is a sturdier building than the center’s metal building on top of a hill.

Langkamp said Sheriff Frank Cantey is interested in the move, so he began seeking cost estimates.

He originally thought the move would take approximately $10,000 to $15,000, but discovered the cost would be close to $35,000 to move the analog system.

Langkamp said the 911 center would have to secure funding before making the move.

While Langkamp was searching the estimated cost, he discovered the analog technology used by the 911 center is approximately 15 years old. A new digital system is available which has video capabilities, but the cost would be $180,000.

Langkamp said centralizing the 911 center with dispatch operations throughout the county is still in the planning stages, but he is pursuing funding sources as they come available.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.