Warren council members hear from industry reps on 911 and radio technology

Staff report

WARREN

Councilman Dan Sferra expressed frustration at a Warren City Council Police and Fire Committee meeting Monday that council is “spinning its wheels” by talking to representatives from CenturyLink and Motorola to help it decide whether to turn over police dispatching to the county 911 center.

Sferra said the city used to pay $3,600 per year to have an unbiased person work on the city’s behalf to advise it on technology, but it no longer does, so he’s not sure whom to believe.

But Councilman Al Novak said he learned from the discussion that the promise of Ernie Cook, Trumbull County 911 director, that nothing about Warren’s dispatching would change as a result of the move may not be true.

The Warren Police Department’s radio system can send the GPS location of an officer to help find him in the event that he can’t speak in a “man down” situation, but the county isn’t currently equipped to offer that in Warren, Cook said.

It could be added, but that would have to be part of the negotiations the county would have with the city, Cook said.

Novak said that is one example of why council needs to continue to study the issue to fully understand such complexities.

Mayor Doug Franklin reminded council members the legislation they are considering is to give the city administration the authority to negotiate with the county to iron out details such as that.

Nancy Serafino, public safety sales engineer at CenturyLink, said she agrees with Cook’s assessment that there would be no difference between dispatchers working in the current Warren Police 911 center and doing that work from the county 911 center.

But Bob Plant, assistant systems administrator for the city’s radio system, said council members should remember that the radio system and dispatching system are separate.