Chief releases 911 findings to board

A study on the feasibility of eliminating Brockport’s 911 dispatching unit and turning the reins over to Monroe County 911 Center has been compiled by Brockport Police Chief Daniel Varrenti. The results were released to the mayor and trustees June 26.

Varrenti said during the course of his investigations he had the opportunity to look at the possibilities of enhancing and reviewing the village’s policies and procedures relative to dispatching. "Whether or not we go to (Monroe County) 911 it’s a good practice to review our operations," he said.

His assignment, he said, was to initially provide a feasibility study as to whether the village should go to 911 for its dispatching needs. "Once I filed my report, the mayor called and pointed out that I hadn’t made a recommendation," Varrenti said. "I will be forwarding a recommendation next week."

While Varrenti said he has an opinion on which direction his recommendation will take, he didn’t want to elaborate on the details until he released the information to village officials. "I do have what I feel is a viable solution that contains enough merit that should cause it to be explored," he said.

Varrenti said the proposed budget cuts reported regarding Monroe County’s 911 system will not affect whether Brockport can go with their services. "If we go with them, any cuts they are looking at would not affect our safety, or the safety of anyone in the village," Varrenti said. "With the threat of crime and terrorism that is present in today’s society, no one would do anything that would reduce the impact of public safety."

He explained that he understood that many of the cuts being proposed would come through attrition, not by lay-offs. "No one in law enforcement today would implement a policy or procedure that would have a negative impact on public safety."

Mayor Josephine Matela said she did receive the report. "The chief’s report reflects what we have known for a long time … we have the Cadillac of dispatching systems," Matela said.

Matela said she has urged the trustees to gather residents of the community to stop down and observe the dispatching operation. "It’s critically important to look at everything before we make any decision on the dispatching."

John Merklinger, director of emergency communications for Monroe County’s 911 center, said the Center handles an average of 1.1 million calls per year for service. "The Center is staffed by a dedicated group of 166 employees," he said. The Center operates on an annual budget of $10.2 million.

A call to the 911 Center has an average ring time of 4.3 seconds; the average call interview is 62 seconds and the average dispatch time is 20 seconds. "From the time you call 911 until help is on the way, is about 86.3 seconds," he explained.

Calls to the Clarkson and Sweden communities are presently being handled by the 911 Center. Brockport is the only village in Monroe County whose dispatching services for police calls are not handled by the 911 Center, he said.

Even though the Center doesn’t handle 911 calls for Brockport, they still received more than 3,100 calls from the Brockport area. The Center received 911 calls for 1,655 Brockport police events; 1,058 Brockport ambulance events and 392 Brockport fire events. "We received a significant number of calls and not one complaint was logged," he said.

Matela said the findings would likely be reviewed and released at an upcoming board meeting.