Warren officials, dispatchers discuss proposed switch to county 911

By Ed Runyan | February 19, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

WARREN

Members of the Warren City Council Police and Fire Committee made it clear Wednesday that moving the city’s police dispatching operations to the county 911 center will only happen after a thorough discussion.

Mayor Doug Franklin, Safety-Service Director Enzo Cantalamessa and Committee Chairman Eddie Colbert made it clear that if the city passes on the $400,000 to $500,000 annual savings the switch would produce, cuts will have to be made elsewhere.

Dispatchers, police officers and a union official also spoke, expressing concerns for what level of officer safety might be lost.

Ernie Cook, chief deputy at the sheriff’s office and county 911 director, said Warren receives 33,000 911 calls per year, and the county receives about 58,000.

The 10 or 11 Warren dispatchers are all guaranteed a job with the county if they want one, and two of the 10 dispatching seats at the county center would be dedicated to Warren calls only, Cook said.

When questioned by a Warren dispatcher about whether city dispatchers would be “bumped” from the two Warren dispatch seats because of seniority, Cook said they would not be, but a dispatcher could be moved from the Warren lines to the county lines if they wanted to be. Eventually, all dispatchers would be cross-trained, Cook said.

Councilman Dan Sferra said he did some research and discovered that 48 of the 50 cities in Ohio with 30,000 or more residents have their own dispatching center.

City employee Bob Plant answered questions about the city’s current dispatching center, saying the city bought its current equipment in 1996, and it would cost $10 million to upgrade it. The current equipment is obsolete, and the manufacturer doesn’t have replacement parts for it anymore.

Mike Hostler, an attorney with the Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, which represents Warren police officers and dispatchers, said each employee who moves from the city to the county will lose $20,000 in the move.

In order for Warren to make the switch, council must authorize Cantalamessa to negotiate an agreement with the county.