By Nok-Noi Hauger
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Copyright 2006 Bangor Daily News
BANGOR, Maine — Emergency dispatchers moved Thursday into the city’s not-quite-finished police station, where touch-screen computers pop open onscreen maps along with callers’ phone numbers.
The dispatchers’ move between 8 and 10 a.m. from Court to Summer streets is the first step in the city’s shift of its entire police department operations to a new $8 million home, which is scheduled to open by the end of the month.
The rest of the department may be moved within “a couple of weeks,” Police Chief Don Winslow said.
Winslow stressed that, for now, the public still should visit the old station at 35 Court St.
Switching the old dispatch center to the new center Thursday was basically “seamless” to the public, Winslow said.
Now, what dispatchers see when they receive 911 calls should speed response.
“We’re the first agency in the state to have this new 911 equipment that shows us a map of where you’re calling from,” dispatcher Ryan Welch said Thursday while standing in the old dispatch center on Court Street.
The old system provided an address, but did not indicate where on a road or street the address was located, Winslow said.
So dispatchers would often use a card system that cross-referenced the roads to give emergency responders more information.
“Everything is going to be available on the computer,” he said.
The new center has four workstations.
“It’s nice,” Welch said. “It’s a lot more convenient than what we have now. It will be a lot [more] efficient when you’re talking on the phone.”
With one touch, dispatchers can talk with emergency responders, police and the Fire Department, a process that used to require them to switch radio channels.
“All the radio frequencies will be shown on a computer screen,” Winslow said. “They just push the screen when they want to talk with one.”
The new dispatch center was constructed with room for two additional stations for growth, he said. The Bangor Police Department has 10 full-time dispatch positions and always has at least two people working.
The old dispatch center started out as a two-person station, later expanding to three. Each area has its own computer and radio systems, and the old center was still filled Thursday with reference materials that show wear from years of use.
“Everything is identical” at the new facilities, making training easier, Winslow said. “Any of the 911 [dispatchers] would be able to move through the consoles. They’re exactly the same.”
Each of the consoles is adjustable and allows a dispatcher to stand if desired. The consoles include wireless headsets, their own heating or cooling source, and independent lighting. All of the infrastructure and wiring are concealed in the consoles.
The new center also has a small attached kitchen and a bathroom, Welch said. At the Court Street center, dispatchers would have to walk out of the glassed-in area and down a hall to use the facilities, which sometimes left only one person to answer calls.
Emergency calls will be handled no differently from before, but people looking for police records or other nonemergency items may be asked to make a second call during the transition, Winslow said,
He asked the public to be patient until the Police Department’s move is complete.
“The rest of us will follow in a couple of weeks,” he said.