February 19, 2024 |
Photo – A combined dispatch center in Converse County – Courtesy conversecountywy.gov
The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office is performing a study to determine the feasibility of taking over all county emergency dispatching services.
On Friday afternoon, Sheriff Alex Bakken released a statement saying that he is currently in the process of conducting a two-stage study and report of combined dispatch operations within Carbon County and the state of Wyoming as a whole.
As well as county commissioners and emergency responders, Sheriff Bakken sent his dispatch plan to the mayors, chiefs of police, and officials of both Rawlins and Saratoga.
As reported by Bigfoot99, at the February 6th Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Bakken told the board that staffing shortages, increasing equipment costs, and limited resources makes a combined county-wide dispatching center is an inevitability.
Phase one of the sheriff’s study will define how a combined dispatch center should operate. At the February 6th commissioners meeting, Sheriff Bakken said he has been speaking with officials around the state to determine the most effective way to create the combined dispatch center.
Phase two is a feasibility study to determine if a combined dispatch center is the best option for Carbon County.
Sheriff Bakken has been in talks with Saratoga officials to have his department take over emergency dispatching services for the Platte River Valley.
With the deal all but done, the sheriff said he is beginning to investigate the feasibility of taking over dispatching from the Rawlins Police Department as well, putting all dispatching services for Carbon County in the hands of the sheriff’s office.
In the Sheriff’s Office dispatch, Sheriff Bakken said, “with three separate dispatch centers currently serving a population of only approximately 14,500 citizens, redundancy of services, triplication of taxpayer expenses, and competition over scarce resources (specifically trained dispatchers,) have become very real considerations for department heads, governing bodies, and the taxpayers of Carbon County.”
Last Tuesday, as a response to Bigfoot99’s story, the Rawlins Police Department issued a statement saying, “Neither the City of Rawlins nor the Rawlins Police Department have been formally approached nor engaged in conversations with Carbon County or the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office regarding consolidated emergency communications.”
In its statement, the Rawlins Police Department said it had previously researched combined dispatch centers around the state. The Rawlins PD said, “Based on that research, the City of Rawlins is aware that the creation of a consolidated dispatch has many complex aspects, including financial impacts, organizational structure, and redundancy in case of failure.”
A Rawlins Police Department statement said the issues must be addressed before it relinquishes dispatching duties.
Speaking at the February 6th county commissioners meeting, Sheriff Bakken said 911 calls are often sent to the wrong dispatch center. The sheriff said routing emergency calls all around the county can be frustrating or even dangerous for callers.
The Rawlins Police Department, in its February 13th written statement, took exception to the sheriff’s claims, saying the city’s dispatch center is designated by the Federal Communications Commission as Carbon County’s primary Public Safety Answering Point.
As a result, all 911 calls within the county are directed to the Rawlins Police dispatch center.
The Rawlins Police Department said, “Of all the 911 cell phone calls received by RPD Communications Center, the clear majority are for service within the City of Rawlins.
These calls are dispatched by the RPD Communications Center. Most other calls for service that are not located in Rawlins are transferred to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, followed by calls transferred to either the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office or the Saratoga Police Department.”
The Rawlins Police Department said transferring calls between dispatch centers is common across the county and that they follow nationally accepted protocols to minimize repeated information and dropped calls.
In his written statement, Sheriff Bakken said, “With limited resources, incessant staffing challenges, and ever-increasing operational costs, the sustainability of continually operating three independent dispatch centers in Carbon County needs to be analyzed. Our goal should always be to ensure that the citizens of Carbon County have the most efficient public safety communications system possible while ensuring responsible and effective spending of taxpayer funds.”
The sheriff said he’ll keep all stakeholders up to date as his study progresses.
