Chardon Safety Committee Considers Dispatch Consolidation

February 2, 2023 by Amy Patterson

A Chardon Safety Committee agenda posted Jan. 27 contained only a few agenda items, but one —asking the committee to consider closing the police dispatch center — caused an uproar in the city.

One Chardon resident took to Facebook that evening to alert his neighbors, saying the consequences of a decision to consolidate the city’s dispatch with the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office could put more stress and a higher workload on local officers and make 911 response times longer.

“I must ask, in February of 2012, where would Chardon have been without the Chardon police department’s dispatch center,” he said, referring to the Feb. 27, 2012, shooting at Chardon High School. “The response time from Chardon police department was less than two minutes and they had officers on the road in less than 10 seconds on that tragic day.”

But on Jan. 31 the safety committee, which consists of Chardon City Council members Heather Means and Dave Lelko, Sharpe, gave a detailed report of the reasons for proposing consolidation with the sheriff’s office.

Sharpe said Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand assured him his office could absorb Chardon’s call volume with no need to increase costs or personnel.

Currently the city’s dispatch center employs four full-time dispatchers, and calls in part-time employees when needed. Sharpe said the model does not work well, because most of the part-timers have other full-time jobs, and it can sometimes be difficult to fill an open shift.

Sharpe said the estimated salary and benefits for 2023 for the dispatch center is about $436,000 — which does not include operational costs.

“The decision to make this recommendation was not made lightly,” Sharpe said. “It is a hard decision on an emotional and human level. But, as research was conducted and information, facts gathered and the pros and cons considered, it became apparent that my recommendation would be to consolidate (dispatch) with the sheriff’s office.”

A 2012 auditor of state performance audit recommended a consolidation, Sharpe said, adding it could save money and reduce costs. However, in 2014, Chardon City Council opted not to disband the city’s dispatch center because it served as the backup for the sheriff’s dispatch center.

Nationwide trends point to consolidation of dispatch services, as technological advances and staffing challenges are problems for small cities, Sharpe added.

Additionally, an increase in the number of 911 calls coming from cell phones means most calls go to a primary dispatch center before being pushed to local dispatch, he said.

“Change is hard. Change is difficult. Often, change is necessary and warranted,” Sharpe said.

Hildenbrand, who was present at the meeting, said other than South Russell Village, which uses a dispatch center out of Chagrin Falls, all other departments in the county dispatch through the sheriff’s office.

“We’re answering probably 90% of the calls for the Chardon Fire Department, although we hand that call off to your dispatch,” Hildenbrand said. “But, because all the cell phone calls come to us, we are answering the phone and … then your dispatch takes over.”

Hildenbrand said the county is working to establish the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as its backup because the city’s setup simply is not large enough and its equipment is too old.

Chardon Police Chief Scott Niehus said the current dispatch center worries him in part due to the age of the equipment, which can sometimes lead to dropped calls.

“We’re at a point where I lose sleep over that because I know that even despite our efforts to maintain (it), the equipment’s old. And every time I talk to communication services about our current equipment … every sentence starts with, ‘You know, your equipment’s obsolete,’” Niehus said. “At some point, we’re going to have a catastrophic failure and I don’t want that to be on my watch.”

The other main issue is staffing, Niehus said, adding he wanted to make it clear this is no reflection on the quality of the city’s dispatch personnel.

“I care about each and every one of them,” he said. “For me, that’s the hardest part about this because I like our dispatchers and they do a good job. In fact, we probably would have been having this conversation much earlier if it weren’t for their efforts because they’ve done the best that they can to manage and keep that equipment running.”

Currently, dispatchers cannot get up to take a break or walk away from the console, Niehus said.

An officer will stand by the radios if they need to run to the bathroom, he said.

Means said the city is faced with a large obstacle in updating the hardware and software in the dispatch center, which Niehus said could cost close to $1 million.

That cost would not include an expansion of personnel, she said.

“It seems like a big ask for taxpayers to come up with this money,” Means said.

Both Means and Lelko agreed to move the conversation forward to the full council meeting scheduled for Feb. 9.