GARY S. HATRICK, Special correspondent, Tampa Tribune (Florida)

Dade City commissioners were told Tuesday that emergency 911 service would improve if the city buys into a consolidation plan being organized by county and local law enforcement agencies.

The consolidation of 911 service would mean that all emergency calls would come into one location and dispatching would be directed from the same facility. Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco has been pushing for a consolidation of emergency dispatch systems.  

Dade City and three other Pasco cities have their own dispatch centers.

At the workshop Tuesday, commissioners heard a presentation by Dade City Police Chief Ray Velboom, Chief Assistant County Administrator Michelle Baker, Col. Brian Head of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and Jody Kenyon, Pasco’s 911 operations manager.

Velboom said consolidation would improve communications, information sharing and record-keeping for all agencies involved. He said it would increase safety for the public and officers, improving response times and allowing for faster and more accurate identification of individuals with criminal records.

He also said it would reduce dropped calls that sometimes result from interagency transfers and the need for callers to repeat themselves when transfers are made. The consolidation would be funded by the county, leading some critics of the proposal to fear that it is a bid for a takeover by the county.

Not so, said Baker. “This is not a ploy to take over Dade City,” she said. “If you would like to team up with us, we would be delighted.”

The consolidated agency, Baker said, would be directed by a governing board made up of all the agencies involved.

Velboom said he agreed with county officials that consolidation is best for everyone. He acknowledged that local dispatch jobs would change and that some would not be interested in moving to a new facility. Those employees possibly could be retrained for other jobs in the Dade City department.

He also said that city residents would continue to enjoy the presence of nonemergency dispatchers, customer service for walk-ins, emergency notifications concerning public works and utility issues, alarm monitoring, building security and other services now provided.

Commissioners have recognized a need to update technology for local officers, making this an opportune time for change, Velboom said. He said the consolidation would provide state-of-the-art technology upgrades for communications and records management.

Head quoted Nocco as saying: “Criminals know no boundaries; neither should we.”

It is not clear whether consolidation would be more or less expensive.

A 911 committee has been working on a plan for consolidation. Committee members would like to complete a plan by March and implement consolidation by Oct. 1. They were asking Dade City to officially express interest in the effort.

Commissioners expressed interest in further information while acknowledging the benefits, but they were not ready to commit to the plan.

There are five primary agencies that have 911 services: Dade City Police Department, Zephyrhills Police Department, New Port Richey Police Department, Port Richey Police Department and Pasco County Fire Rescue. Of these, only Zephyrhills has shown no interest in the consolidation effort.

Zephyrhills City Manager Jim Drumm said he doesn’t think Zephyrhills should be part of the effort. “You lose some of the personal contact your dispatchers have with your community. A larger regional center would not be able to keep up.” Local dispatchers know the streets and the frequent callers and their needs, and that would be lost, he said.

“I think the cities that are interested are interested because of financial concerns,” Drumm said. “We’re not in the same place. Our equipment is in good condition. We’re able to keep and afford the same level of service. I don’t think we’ve had any serious frequency of miscommunication. We think we can still afford to do a better job for our citizens.”

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