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Sheriff proposes takeover of 911
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Sheriff Randall A. Wellington
Wellington points to ‘redundancy, waste’
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County sheriff says he can save the county a significant amount of money by taking control of the emergency communication systems, and he is asking for control of that system.
In a letter to county commissioners, Sheriff Randall A. Wellington says there is “redundancy, waste and increased operational costs” because the current countywide system is under the control of commissioners instead of the sheriff’s department.
“What we are proposing to do is supervise the 911 center and the EMA [Emergency Management Agency] in the county at a savings of about a half-million [dollars] to the county,” Wellington said.
According to the sheriff’s statistics, the county is spending $1.4 million to operate the emergency-response system.
Wellington said his office has examined how 911 communications and EMA operations are handled in counties similar to Mahoning and learned that in most counties the two services are handled by the sheriff’s department, the letter said.
The letter included web-page documents from Lorain, Geauga, Stark, Summit and Lake County sheriff’s departments.
Anthony T. Traficanti, president of the board of commissioners, said the board just received the proposal and is looking it over and talking with the sheriff. He added, however, any proposal to save the county money will be scrutinized and strongly considered by commissioners.
“We are in the process of working out the details with the sheriff and will have more comment once we review this,” he said.
The sheriff’s proposals includes a chart detailing how the county would save money on salaries, paying the Law Enforcement Automated Data System annual cost only once and by using grant funds to cover some costs. According to the sheriff’s information, the county could save more than $542,000.
Wellington said the county-jail building on Fifth Avenue housing the sheriff’s department has space specifically designed for radio communications systems. He also said law-enforcement officers in his department have a variety of certifications for both radio communication and EMA services, allowing them to work in dual capacities.
Traficanti said commissioners hope to completely review the proposal and make a final decision in the next few weeks.