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Valparaiso to transfer 911 service to
county
Officials say change
will save money and improve efficiency
BY KEN KOSKY
Date posted online: Saturday, July 07, 2007
JON L. HENDRICKS | THE
TIMES Dispatcher C.J. Wittmer takes a call at the Porter County dispatch center
Friday. Valparaiso has forged an agreement with the county to have the county
dispatch center handle the city's emergency calls.
VALPARAISO | When the
Valparaiso Police Department's new station opens later this summer, one notable
change will be the absence of a 911 center to answer emergency calls and
dispatch police and firefighters. It's not needed, officials said. Valparaiso
Mayor Jon Costas and Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper on Friday signed a
document to have the Porter County dispatch center handle Valparaiso's calls.
The merger will allow the same or an even higher level of service to be
accomplished with less staff, Costas said. The consolidation will save the city
of Valparaiso $250,000 it would have spent to put a dispatch center in the new
station and will save about $200,000 a year in dispatcher salaries. "This
makes a lot of sense. ... This is also a national trend," Costas said. Harper
said it will save Porter County taxpayers money. "I'm excited about it, and I
think it's good for everybody," he said. The county 911 center spends more on
dispatchers. However, some of the cost will balance out since there no longer
will be a need to spend money from the county phone surcharge fund to buy and
maintain separate equipment for Valparaiso. When Porter County started 911
service in 1994, Harper was disappointed that "turf wars" prevented the county
from dedicating a single dispatch center to serve the whole county. Instead,
Porter County, Valparaiso and Portage each built separate centers. Portage will
continue to use its own dispatch center, which Valparaiso can use as a backup if
something were to happen to the county dispatch center, which is inside the
sheriff's department. One of the stumbling blocks to merging has been the loss
of control. If a Valparaiso resident isn't pleased with the service received
from a Porter County dispatcher, the mayor or police chief can't directly
discipline the dispatcher. "It is a leap of faith (turning over dispatching
duties), but they earned the trust because of their past performance," Costas
said of the county dispatch center. County 911 Director Dave Sheibels said
service and response time won't suffer but should actually improve. None of the
seven full-time Valparaiso dispatchers will lose their jobs when the switch
occurs in three to six months, since five will be hired by the county and the
others can remain with Valparaiso in switchboard or clerical positions. The
agreement Costas and Harper signed is expected to receive final approval from
the County Council and commissioners within the next few weeks. The county
dispatch center was built with future consolidation in mind, with only four of
the eight work stations currently in use.
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