May 8, 2024|
Photo – Meeting notice – Courtesy CCSO
Sheriff Alex Bakken is hoping for a large turnout at a future combined dispatch informational meeting in Saratoga.
The town of Saratoga and the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office originally scheduled a workshop on Monday, May 13th to discuss dispatch services. The meeting will allow Saratoga and county officials to explain to the public why a combined emergency dispatch call center is needed.
However, during their Tuesday meeting, the Saratoga town council postponed the workshop. As of the reporting of this story, a new date has not been set.
Discussion about a combined dispatch center originated last November when, citing a lack of staffing, the Saratoga Police Department asked the sheriff’s office to cover the town’s call center. After the agreement ended, Sheriff Alex Bakken began investigating the pros and cons of bringing all dispatch services for Carbon County under one roof.
At yesterday’s Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Bakken encouraged residents to attend the upcoming workshop. The sheriff said he created a public safety communications survey to allow people to express their thoughts about the proposed combined dispatch center.
Sheriff Bakken said over 100 people have taken the short, four question survey. The sheriff shared his favorite comment received through the survey and asked for more responses from the public.
Sheriff Bakken said he would like at least 200 people to respond to the online survey before he takes it down.
On his Facebook page, Sheriff Bakken shared another comment received through the survey. The comment states, “The population isn’t going to stop growing. Having multiple agencies keeps a peace of mind that the call volume can be answered efficiently.”
The sheriff responded by writing that it may seem like more centers can help alleviate increased call volume. However, when three dispatchers are working alone across three different call centers, they can quickly become overwhelmed by the increased volume, especially during a large-scale incident. On the other hand, if the three dispatchers are working together in one center, they could share the workload and relay information seamlessly without having to transfer calls or request assistance from other centers.
Sheriff Bakken pointed out that Park, Albany, Sweetwater, Laramie, Natrona, and Teton Counties all have higher populations than Carbon County and use combined dispatch centers.
Speaking at yesterday’s commissioners meeting, Sheriff Bakken said the executive director of the Sweetwater County joint dispatch center, Rick Hawkins, will be on hand during the upcoming meeting to answer questions.
Through the online public safety communications survey, Sheriff Bakken was asked how many calls get transferred between the Rawlins, Saratoga, and the sheriff’s dispatch centers. The sheriff wrote, over the last year, 175 emergency 911 calls were transferred from the Rawlins Police Department Dispatch Center to the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center. This number does not include calls that were transferred from the Saratoga Police Department.
In Carbon County, only the Rawlins Police Department’s dispatch center receives emergency 911 calls. They are responsible for routing calls to the appropriate law enforcement agency, including the sheriff’s department and Wyoming Highway Patrol.
The workshop for dispatch services was originally set for Monday, May 13th. However, scheduling conflicts caused Saratoga Mayor Chuck Davis to postpone the workshop until a later date. Due to the importance of the meeting, Mayor Davis said he wants as many town council members as possible to attend.
A new date for the workshop for dispatch services meeting has not been announced yet.
