Eight Warren dispatchers plan to make move to county 911 system Sept. 9

By Ed Runyan | August 26, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

VIENNA

All eight of the Warren Police Department’s current dispatchers are making the move to the Trumbull County 911 center when it begins handling Warren police calls Sept. 9.

The Warren dispatch center used to have 12 dispatchers, but the city didn’t replace four who have left, said Ernie Cook, county 911 director and chief deputy at the county sheriff’s office.

Cook attended the county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday to discuss a resolution commissioners are expected to approve today that will pay $202,824 to replace the Niles Police Department’s computer-aided police dispatch system and phone system.

Of that, $54,474 will pay for annual maintenance on the equipment for the next three years. All the money comes from the surcharge wireless phone users pay for 911 upgrades.

The equipment will enable Niles to be the primary backup to the county 911 system by giving Niles the same equipment the county has.

One other dispatching operation at the Lordstown Police Department, which dispatches for Lordstown and Warren Township, also has the same equipment as the county 911, Cook said.

Having the same equipment will mean that 13 dispatching computer stations will be linked in the same “virtual network” in Howland (the county 911), Niles and Lordstown but work as if they were all together, Cook said.

The one dispatching operation in the county that is not part of the county system is Girard’s.

Warren’s dispatching center, which also has the same computer-aided dispatching equipment as the county, will remain ready to use as a backup if needed, but it won’t be manned, Cook said.

To provide Warren residents with a “safe zone” where he or she can go to receive help, a “call box” has been installed outside of the Warren Police Department’s lower-level entrance at the back of the police station.

A similar box will be available at the entrance to the sheriff’s office two blocks north, Cook noted. In both cases, a person can be connected directly to the 911 center through the phone.

Cook said the orientation with the eight Warren dispatchers last week went well, and officials are “going through the checklist” in hopes of making the transition seamless.