Center Line dispatch center going online

Center Line Public Safety armed with state-of-the-art tools

 

By Brian C. Louwers

C & G Staff Writer

     CENTER LINE — Public safety officers and the dispatchers coordinating their efforts will be aided by a new, state-of-the-art dispatching system after it goes online this week.

     The new dispatch center, funded in part with a $150,000 federal grant, will complement in-car computers and a countywide Law Enforcement Informational Network already in use in over 40 local departments. The end result will be an increase in dispatching efficiency, organization and management.

     “We’re getting into computer-aided dispatching. That will tell you who is available, where the closest car is, or who is on a run and not available,” Center Line Deputy Director of Public Safety Nicholas Chakur said. “Lights and siren, we’re only about two minutes away from anywhere in Center Line.”

     The new center features two separate consoles, allowing two dispatchers to handle separate events simultaneously. Chakur said that will be especially useful when the department is called upon to handle police and fire situations at the same time. New radio consoles allow instant, simultaneous access to Center Line’s Public Safety and Special Operations Group channels, Warren’s police and fire channels, the area’s mutual aid channel and county emergency channels. Four 19-inch, flat-screen monitors allow dispatchers to view an in-house computer, the dispatch system, a mapping system and a screen with information from the national LEIN and the regional Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System.

     “It makes it a lot easier for the officers,” Chakur said.

     It also makes the dispatchers’ jobs easier, and more effective. 

     “This is huge,” Center Line Dispatcher Michael Eickhoff said. “Everyone else around us has this. It’s kind of nice for us to have it, too.”

     Eickhoff and Center Line’s other dispatchers will train on the new equipment during four eight-hour classes in Troy.

     The new dispatch system also digitally records calls, making reviewing easier, and  tracks call history by location.

     The funding was facilitated through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Making Officer Redeployment Effective technology grant program. Center Line Public Safety Director Tim Woelkers said a request for grant funding was submitted last April.

     The city will convert the temporary dispatch center into a more resident-friendly records department, Chakur said.

     You can reach Brian C. Louwers at blouwers@candgnews.com