Grosse Pointe Park to Dispatch for City

In a unanimous decision Monday, the City of Grosse Pointe council approved a three year contract with Grosse Pointe Park for emergency dispatch services. The contract, if also approved by the Park council, will be the second of its kind after Grosse Pointe Shores and Farms.

The consolidation of dispatch is expected to save the City of Grosse Pointe about $30,000 the first year and about $100,000 each year thereafter. The savings in the first year are reduced due to some one time expenses, such as severance packages for employees and the conversion of the telephone lines, City Manager Pete Dame said, explaining to council the difference.

City officials have been investigating such an option for some time now. Dame toured all of the other dispatch centers last year evaluating each to determine which location would be the best for such an agreement.

Ultimately the decision stems from a study done in 2010 recommending that the Public Safety Departments of the Grosse Pointes make smaller consolidations rather than one large dispatch/lockup center as it would be more cost effective.

At least two people--one resident and one business owner--spoke against the contract Monday asking council to wait until Detroit is experiencing less turmoil to make such a change.

"I'm worried about the perception of the guy in the car with a gun," said Cam Lawrence, owner of the BP on Mack Avenue at Rivard. "He's thinking can I do this and get away?"

In response, councilman Chris Walsh emphasized the change will not impact the number of officers patroling the streets in the City or available for response. "We are cognizant of the role of public safety and we've reflected that in the money," he said, noting a majority of the City's budget is devoted to public safety.

The contract calls for the City to pay for all of the transitional expenses, which officials intend to pay for using a grant from the state's Economic Vitality Incentive Program. It will cover up to $300,000, according to the original grant the five cities received last year.

Wording and requirements in the contract are similar to those used in the Grosse Pointe Shores-Farms agreement with one exception: a formal committee that will meet regularly to review how the service is working and to evaluate whether any changes are necessary to continue operations.

The committee will involve officials from both cities and will allow the City of Grosse Pointe to have a say in operations, Dame said.

Although there has been constant communication in the Shores and Farms between officials from both cities, nothing formal was put into the contract and there have been many complaints exchanged from both sides. Operationally, the combined dispatch has functioned appropriately and residents in both communities are receiving appropriate response for 911 calls.

Grosse Pointe Park will not take on any additional dispatchers, Public Safety Director David Hiller said earlier Monday. To prepare for receiving more calls at the Park's existing dispatch center, the Park will implement a phonetree answering system to help elminate non-emergency calls from the dispatchers, Hiller said.

The City already has a phonetree in place, which guides callers to dial different extentions to reach a specific department or person.

Depending on how the call volumes work out, there could be a "power shift," Hiller said, explaining it would include two dispatchers working at the same time to ensure appropriate coverage for higher-volume call times. 

City Public Safety Director Stephen Poloni discussed the many differences in services as a result, including a potential but unlikely delay in answering a call if the dispatcher is already dealing with an on-going emergency.

He also emphasized the fact that one to two officers could be taken off the roads for 30 minutes to more than an hour when booking someone they've arrested. Prisoners will be housed in Grosse Pointe Park, which means City officers will have to drive to the Park to process them.

In the Pointes, all of the Public Safety Departments have holding cells use for initial arrests through the arraignment but none are equipped to house prisoners for any longer than three days. Beyond that time frame, the indivdiuals are housed by Wayne County. In the Pointes, the prisoners are monitored by dispatchers, which is why arrestees could no longer be housed in the City's holding cell.

Much of the time and officer involvment in an arrest is related to the person being arrested, Poloni said, explaining some of the time is related to state laws, such as waiting 15 minutes before performing a formal breathalyzer. A combative arrestee would also likely require two officers, he said.

In addition to providing dispatch services and housing prisoners, the Park will also monitor the City's security cameras in the Village parking garage to assist with after hours problems by motorists, according to terms of the contract.

Originally officials were aiming to make the change by July 1 but Sept. 1 is the new goal. Hiller said earlier Monday that the time frame was more realistic to enable both sides to do all of the behind-the-scenes preparation work.

Hiller and Poloni believe the change will go smoothly but both expect there will be some state of transition. Hiller said regardless of how much preparation goes into such a change, there will always be some factors that are not anticipated but will be addressed as they arise.

Either side may end the agreement with 90 days notice.

The City will $92,000 annually and will pay $8,000 if the oversight committee determines a part-time dispatcher is necessary to cover the "power shift" Hiller discussed to cover peak hours.

Officilas from both cities are still awaiting the results of a study completed to determine whehter complete consolidation of the two public safety departments would be feasible and beneficial to both communities. The dispatch consolidation could be just one step toward the bigger consolidation.