Main Content:
Dispatch Consolidation Study
There are currently three primary and one secondary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in
Scott County, Iowa. The four PSAPs perform similar functions for the entities they serve.
In September 2003, the Mayors of Davenport and Bettendorf and the Scott County Board Chair established a blue ribbon committee to investigate possible shared services and savings across governmental boundaries. The Committee consists of private citizens, two elected officials from each jurisdiction and the administrators of the three jurisdictions as ex-officio members. Possible areas of shared services have included solid waste collection, library services, police/fire/ambulance dispatching, assessor services and GIS technology.
In 2005, the blue ribbon committee selected a consultant to conduct a study of the feasibility of consolidating two or more of the dispatch centers in the County.
The feasibility study was designed to answer the following questions:
- How would a consolidation take place and provide improved service?
- How should it be organized and staffed?
- What services should it perform?
- How should policies be made and changed?
- How should it be funded?
- With consolidation, what communications changes or improvements should be made in order to support the operations better than provided today?
Radio Communications:
In a study of consolidated dispatch which was released last summer, the need for a radio communications study was identified.
The Cities of Bettendorf and Davenport, Scott County and MEDIC EMS retained a radio communications consulting firm to help identify needs and options for improvement to the current two way radio systems used by public safety, public works, and public service at the County and City levels. The results of the study are presented in the attached report which was developed by Paul Linnee the project manger with GeoComm, the selected consulting firm.
As recommended in the consolidated dispatch study, a 28E agreement is being drafted to create a new consolidated dispatch and communication services entity and that will be considered by participating Councils and Boards. Participants in the 28E agreement will proceed with implementation actions such incremental purchase of radios and equipment, hiring a Consolidated Dispatch Center Director, and moving toward design and construction of the Consolidated Dispatch Center.
Documents:
- July 31, 2007 Scott County Iowa Radio Report Final (1.0 MB)
- May 22, 2006 Dispatch Service and Record Keeping Consolidation Study (1.1 MB)
Study participants:
