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Westminster upgrading 911 dispatch
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Related Topics: WESTMINSTER, Md.
WESTMINSTER, Md. (Map, News) - Westminster is dumping its antiquated computer-assisted 911 dispatch for a new system that will help the city better map crime trends and share data with other police agencies.
“It’s a great step forward in terms of cooperation and collaboration with law enforcement,” Westminster Police Chief Jeffrey Spaulding said.
Westminster’s current system allows dispatchers to monitor the status of calls but the primitive software can’t generate statistics on crime hot spots, average response times or maps showing the location of police cruisers in relation to callers.
Only a former police officer who wrote the program is able to fix it, forcing the city to user a paper backup system when it periodically crashes.
Westminster, which handled 17,000 calls last year, plans to purchase a new, more user-friendly system for $35,000.
The upgraded software will work cooperatively with the county’s 911 center, which handles calls for fire, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and several municipal police departments, allowing the nearest police officer -- regardless of uniform color -- to respond to calls on the city’s fringes or just outside city limits.
In addition, the new system will allow county and city police agencies to share more information on suspects.
“They certainly do not worry about jurisdictional boundaries and in fact, use that to their advantage,” said Spaulding.
Randolph Waesche, the county’s emergency communications coordinator, listed even more advantages.
Calls for both ambulance and police will be dispatched more quickly, he said, and when a call comes in, phone numbers and addresses will automatically flash on the screen. If it’s from a cell, the software will provide the longitude and latitude of the caller’s location, Waesche said.
Spaulding plans to request Westminster Common Council’s consent for the system’s purchase at Monday’s council meeting.
kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com
