May 25, 2022 |
The Saratoga Police Department continues to grapple with staffing issues in dispatch.
Town Council last week approved a request from Chief Kenneth Lehr to hire an applicant contingent on a background check. However, Mayor Creed James recommended that Chief Lehr postpone advertising for a dispatch supervisor until the budget workshops are complete.
Pictured above: File photo of Saratoga Town Hall/Police Department. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
Councilman Ben Spaulding, who is the governing body’s liaison with the police department agreed. Mayor James said he is seeking outside help through county sources for solutions to staffing the dispatch center.
Lenny Layman is the Carbon County Emergency Management Coordinator. Layman set up the communications command center in Rawlins. The C4 relies on inter-departmental human resource sharing. It played an integral role during the city-wide water outage in Rawlins in March.
The meeting between the town and county officials was tentatively scheduled for last week. The mayor said council would revisit the dispatch staffing issue following both the meetings and the budget process.
Related: Saratoga PD still seeking new officers, dispatchers
Related: C4, staff prove themselves during first activation for Rawlins and Sinclair water crisis
