Deltek Analyst Evan Halperin reports.
Despite National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week coming to a close, one thing that will remain open is the consideration of public safety answering point (PSAP) consolidation. As many state and local governments continue to struggle with growing deficits and no way to close their budget gaps, legislators must look at all aspects of their government to determine where costs can be cut. Governments, big and small, manage their own 9-1-1 dispatch centers that require manpower, up-to-date dispatching software, and proper funding for maintenance. These costs, along with the pressure to find funds to pay for necessary services, lead many localities to consider dispatch consolidation.
In short, dispatch consolidation requires several towns or cities in a close geographic proximity to develop a partnership (which usually requires memoranda of understanding [MOUs]) by which costs can be divided, and the savings for each locality will increase over time. The reasons for these types of consolidations are typically cost-related. Oftentimes, a locality does not have the funds to upgrade its obsolete computer aided dispatch system, or even to run the dispatch center altogether.
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