Eaton County Emergency Communications
Law Enforcement Subcommittee
~ Discussion, No Quorum ~
Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at 1400 hrs
PRESENT:
Larry Weeks, ERPD
Chris Blievernicht, GLPD
Shawn Garcia, OPD
Shane Bartlett, PPD
Kent Austin, Commissioner
Michael Armitage, ECCD
Lara O’Brien, ECCD
John Imeson, ECCD
Call to Order and Roll Call – There was no quorum at this meeting as five law enforcement representatives or alternates are needed and four were present.
Introduction of New Members and Guests - None
Reading and Approval of Minutes - No quorum
Discussion –
Report from Central Dispatch Committee – Chris Blievernicht reviewed the minutes from the June meeting.
Central Dispatch Operational Report –
· The monthly report for June was emailed out.
· Dispatch is currently down two positions and are not authorized to fill at this time.
· One new dispatcher in training
· Two dispatchers out on FMLA
· Essentially, currently down 5 people in dispatch
Chief Weeks asked if responding units will notice the shortages in dispatch. Michael stated probably not, but definitely during a major event. Lara stated that the vacation relief dispatchers will be scheduled during peak hours and vacation time requests may have to be denied.
Central Dispatch Project Updates – Michael stated that the camera project is completed and he is very happy with the job SecurAlarm did.
Assigning Units to Traffic Related BOLs – Lara reviewed this policy for Chief Garcia, saying that dispatch used to just air and clear BOLs, but now we air and assign a unit to acknowledge the situation. This subcommittee hasn’t had a quorum for the last two meetings to approve policy, but dispatch is doing it anyway.
Radio Update – The Ways & Means Committee agreed to fund the radio project with a $1.75 per device within Eaton County, rather than a millage. The full board will vote on this tonight to put the decision on the November 2017 ballot. We are currently in talks with Motorola for pricing incentives to sign before a certain date. If approved, a public education campaign would need to start very soon. The vote to fund the radio project with a charge on devices is separate from Central Dispatch’s millage renewal, which is up next year and needs to be approved by the votes.
Weather Siren project – The cost to cover this project may be incorporated with the new radios. Also, Motorola could possibly agree to fund this project as a incentive to sign with them on the radio project. If this can be a part of the radio project, it could allow us to integrate with RAVE alert to activate the sirens.
Chief Garcia asked how a new radio system would affect smaller departments as far as budget. Michael explained that the proposal is to purchase all radios for agencies, portables and mobiles. What an agency has now will be replaced with a full 10 year warranty, unless intentional damage was done.
Commissioner Austin stated that he feels now is the time to get the radio project off the ground due to the age of the current radio system and the incentives Motorola is offering.
Chief Weeks stated that he has tried to talk about the radio project with one of the county commissioners and Chief Weeks isn’t really convinced this commissioner or other really understand it. Commissioner Austin encouraged Chief Weeks and the others to attend the board meeting tonight to help explain the need.
CDC representative vacancy – A member of this subcommittee needs to be elected to fill Curt Bristol’s vacancy to represent this group at the Central Dispatch Committee. This will be done at a meeting with a quorum.
Tow requests – Michael stated that lately he has been fielding a lot of complaints from one particular tow company in Charlotte. The current towing procedure keeps dispatch out of the choice of which tow company to pick. Michael would like to create a tow list showing what companies are available in areas. He stated that dispatch would laminate this list and give to all patrol officers. Dispatch would also keep updated. There was some discussion, but this issue didn’t affect those at the meeting.
Chief Weeks asked about the MCT replacement process. Michael stated that he originally budgeted the full amount for next year to replace everything, but that was before the projections for next year’s budget. With that in mind, it has now been divided into thirds with ECSD and CPD being replaced this year, more agencies next year, and the remaining agencies the following year. Check with Nathan if you want to know what year your agency is scheduled if you have to budget for MCT mounts.
The next meeting is Wednesday, October 18, at 1400 hrs
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