SC county consolidates 911 dispatching system

August 27, 2009 04:42 AM

By David Slade
The Post and Courier

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Charleston, the lone holdout, has now agreed to join in a plan to handle all of the 911 calls in Charleston County from single location.

The decision is expected to improve the dispatching of fire departments in the Charleston area as early as January, with a new focus on sending the closest department regardless of municipal boundaries. When fully implemented in 2013, all police, fire and ambulance calls in the county would go directly to dispatchers working for the county at one location.

Currently, 911 calls in Charleston County sometimes must be transferred from one dispatcher to another, particularly when the 911 calls are made on cell phones — as about two-thirds of them are - and it may not immediately be clear which jurisdiction the caller is located within. Sometimes, multiple dispatchers may be needed to respond to a single 911 call.

“Today, if you have a burglar at your house, and maybe you’ve been shot, you call 911 and they send EMS (Emergency Medical Service) but transfer you to your local law enforcement agency,” said North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt, who heads the consolidated dispatch committee.

Jurisdictions that have their own dispatchers will continue to pay the related costs for now, but dispatchers will become county employees during a transition period. In the third year after Charleston County opens a planned center for the consolidated dispatch operations, the county will bear all costs.

Charleston police dispatchers are expected to move into that new center in 2013, after it’s been completed, but other dispatchers, including those now employed by the Charleston Fire Department, will be merged into the county’s existing 911 center next year.

For Charleston, consolidating dispatching and having the county take on the costs will mean an annual savings of about $1.6 million, Police Chief Greg Mullen said. For North Charleston, Zumalt put the savings at about $1.2 million.

Without exception, though, public safety officials say the savings are just a side benefit of improving public safety.

“It’s all about efficiency and how we respond to incidents,” said Charleston Fire Chief Thomas Carr. “Geographic boundaries muddy the water, as far as response.”

Carr and Mullen said the city took its time and evaluated the plan for the consolidated center before agreeing this month to sign on. County Council and City Council will have to approve the agreement.