Eight is more than enough

Eight is more than enough

A squabble over how Trumbull County should spend $1.5 million to upgrade the 911 emergency call system to better handle calls that originate from cell phones illustrates how dysfunctional the present system is.

System is actually too strong a word to use for an eight-headed monster that demands that money intended to enhance the public safety of all be divided eight ways.

Trumbull County is 25 miles by 25 miles square, well-mapped and with a population of less than 220,000. Why would it demand eight public safety answering points (PSAPs) to handle 911 calls? Logically, it doesn’t. There are larger cities all over the country that function with a single 911 call center. The only reason Trumbull County has eight PSAPs is politics.

No political entity is willing to give up its fiefdom. No bargaining unit is willing allow employees to be transferred to a central 911 center.

Local isn’t necessarily better

Residents are convinced that they get better service from a neighborhood PSAP than from a central one, and this perception survives even dramatic examples to the contrary. For instance, an elderly Liberty Township woman died on her porch last spring and a review showed that poor training and supervision contributed to her death. A dispatcher was found to have performed unprofessionally and made several errors in handling two calls reporting a woman’s cries in the night.

Trumbull County communities are wasting time arguing over how money should be spent to improve the 911 system. They’re spending money to preserve a system that requires more employees and makes it more difficult to adequately train and supervise those people. Residents are getting less protection than they are entitled to.

Now, some cities and townships in Trumbull County are considering spending more public money on a legal challenge to action last week by the Trumbull County 911 Planning Committee to accept $1.5 million for enhanced 911 service.

An increasing number of people are shifting from land-line telephones to cell phones. Too much time has already been wasted in accessing these funds, which will only be available through the end of the year.

It is the responsibility of all public officials to provide the best service at the lowest cost, and it is time for Trumbull County mayors, trustees and police chiefs to stop pretending that eight separate emergency call centers are needed.