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Dispatch and EMA report: go-live date set, mapping grant approved and mass-notification still under review
Summary
Dispatch leadership described new certifications, a planned go-live for July 8, a COOP and PACE plan, and a WTH-funded mapping update approved by commissioners; mass-notification procurement remains under discussion.
Britney, communications/dispatch lead, gave a multi-part presentation to the commissioners on May 19 covering dispatcher certifications, continuity plans, testing, hiring and mapping updates.
"All of the dispatchers became certified over the past two weeks in emergency police dispatching, so we're all EPDs now," Britney said, and added the scheduled set go-live date for a new system is July 8, 2025.
She said dispatch has rewritten policies, is working on a COOP (continuity of operations plan) and a PACE (primary/alternate/contingency/emergency) plan, and that staff training and supervisory training are scheduled in June. She described recent testing of staff with an audio-visual assessment that will feed into hiring and promotion decisions and said interviews for six candidates will start the week of the meeting.
On mass notification, Britney said the county is still evaluating options and she favors Rave (Motorola) for compatibility, but she noted it is expensive and recommended agencies pool resources to consider cost-effectiveness.
Separately, commissioners considered and approved a mapping update proposal submitted by WTH. Britney summarized the offer as a grant-funded map update with no county cash outlay. "This is no money out of pocket for us," she said, and a commissioner later confirmed a total fee of $7,500 would be paid through the grant or related seed funding. The motion to approve the WTH mapping work as presented passed 3-0.
The communications and emergency-management presenters also described a June exercise (discussed earlier by the coroner) and said communications staff will participate; contingency relocation sites for dispatch were listed (Rochester Police Department, then Rochester Fire Department) and the county has a district command vehicle as a further fallback.
No procurement decision for mass notification was made at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to continue evaluating options and costs.
