Sheriff's Department Won't Separate from VECC This Year

Feb 27, 2008 by Jeff Robinson

But Sheriff Winder Says It Will Happen by July 2009

(KCPW News) The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department won't be separating its 911 dispatch services from the Valley Emergency Communication Center this year. Yesterday, the county council voted to rescind a previous resolution stating the agencies would separate by the end of this June, but Sheriff Jim Winder says it's still going to happen.

"It does not, in my opinion, reflect a withdrawal of the county's intent to eventually create its own public safety answering point, or combined fire and police dispatch center," said Winder. "We've evaluated it from many aspects, and we do believe that operationally for the valley it is the best course of action."

The reason the separation won't happen now, Winder says, is because the county's United Fire Authority has not yet formally decided to separate its 911 services from the VECC as well. The department also needs more time to get its own dispatch center up and running.

Council Chairman Mark Crockett agrees the county's own dispatch system would be more reliable than the current situation.

"It seems like a good idea. Redundancy is probably needed in a county of our size, rather than just having one system that could go down," he said. "Also, we think it's good to help get the cities and county and all the different agencies around one technological system at some point."

Sheriff Winder says the county can get a new dispatch center online by July of next year.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW