Council votes for negotiations on county dispatching

NEWARK – Newark City Council voted Monday to pass a resolution that gives the city the right to negotiate a possible move of city police communications dispatching services to the Licking County 911 Call Center.

The resolution passed 7-1, with Curtis Johnson, R-5th Ward, and Alex Roletta, D-4th Ward, absent from the meeting for personal reasons. Marc Guthrie, D-at large, voted against the resolution.

"I can't bring myself to support the concept," Guthrie said. "I am grateful for all those who voted to modify this and slow this process down."

The original resolution presented to the Newark City Council Service Committee three weeks ago did not require the negotiated contract to come back to council for another vote. Roletta moved to add the resolution, and the amended version has passed.

The resolution does not guarantee that dispatching duties will be reallocated to the county center, it does give parties the right to discuss the possibility of that happening.

Proponents say that moving Newark's police dispatching responsibilities to the Licking County 911 Center would save the city money and give the department access to better technology, mainly computer-aided dispatch equipment.

Right now, the Newark Police Department uses written call cards to aid in dispatching officers and to track 911 calls. Adding computer-aided dispatch equipment to the Newark Police Department could cost up to $500,000, safety director Bill Spurgeon told the service committee three weeks ago.

At Monday night's meeting, no arguments were heard on behalf of a possible merger, although critics did take the opportunity to again express reservations.

Melissa Schmidt, a Newark Police dispatcher, addressed the council on behalf of her colleagues.

"To the best of our knowledge, no grants have been applied for to obtain this technology," Schmidt said of the computer-aided dispatch equipment. She told the council that the Newark Police dispatchers have been able to handle more calls with fewer dispatchers than the Licking County call center, even with "inferior technology."

"The city of Newark will be less safe," she said, noting that county dispatchers would not be as familiar with the city or Newark officers.

Guthrie echoed Schmidt's concerns about safety and recommended that council invite Newark police officers to chambers to speak on how the movement of dispatching to the county might affect officer safety.

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