By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Police Department is nearing completion on enhancing the communications center with new technology to make dispatcher's work more efficient.
Deputy Chief Jason Strong says through a grant, the department is nearing the final stage of the 'Next Generation 911 upgrade'
"We put in for a grant, we were very fortunate through the 911 service board to be awarded a grant that was nearly $1 million. amd that grant money went to enhance our call taking equipment, and it went to change our core services from coming in on a copper landline, which are outdated, end of life, and will not be supported soon, to move us to a system that's VoIP, so that is they system for standard 911 centers," Strong explains on the KFEQmunnity show.
Strong says the department was grateful to receive the grant, saving taxpayer money, with technology for the communication center on a five-year cycle.
The new technology enhances the ability for dispatchers to locate where calls are coming from faster than the previous system. Strong says the faster dispatch times are due to the new systems being GIS based
"So, when we moved to this system, before we cut over, we had what's called GIS remediation done," Strong says. "So, we took all the addresses in town and made sure they were as accurate to the state standard, so that enables us to deliver services to community members quickly, effectively, and we will maintain that level of GIS information moving forward."
Strong says on average, just on the St. Joseph Police side, the communications center handles around 6,000 calls a month. The communications center also dispatches for the St. Joseph Fire Department, Buchanan County Sheriff's Department, the City of Easton, and medical emergencies as well.
Strong says the system provides better information to dispatchers with more information, which speeds up the time they are able to get information to law enforcement officials and serve the community.
"With the comms center time is money, and the faster that we can get our resources to a location where there's an emergency going, the better outcome we're going to have," Strong says.
With technology continuing to enhance, Strong says even more changes could eventually come to the St. Joseph Police Department, but for now completing the communication center project is a big step
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.