Grand Jury: San Bruno Should Consolidate Police Dispatch Center

The Daily News reported that a grand jury report recently released suggested that there were too many police dispatch centers operating in San Mateo County and that smaller cities should merge their dispatch centers with larger cities to better serve their communities.

The grand jury report noted that San Bruno's police dispatch center was an example of why more cities should consolidate their operations. On the night of the Sept. 9, 2010, pipeline explosion, only one dispatcher was on duty to handle all of the 911 calls. Someone from the police records department soon helped out, but they were still overwhelmed.

It took 26 minutes for personnel from the San Mateo County dispatch center to set up an emergency communications center at the scene, and it could have been done more effectively, the report said.

Currently, 12 of the 22 cities in the county operate their own police dispatch centers: Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, San Bruno, South San Francisco, Redwood City and San Mateo. The county also runs a dispatch center that handles calls for fire and medical emergencies.

According to the Daily News, "The eight that contract out for police dispatch service include Brisbane with San Mateo, Pacifica with South San Francisco, and the rest—East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Millbrae, Portola Valley, San Carlos and Woodside—with the county."

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