Grosse Pointe Shores, Farms Dispatch Consolidation Likely by Sept. 1

The dispatch consolidation expected to happen earlier this summer between Grosse Pointe Shores and Grosse Pointe Farms is on track to be complete by Sept. 1, Shores City Manager Brian Vick said. 

Both cities reached that was approved by both city councils to consolidate the dispatch services—a consolidation that won't affect the level of service or response time to residents. 

The consolidation will also save Grosse Pointe Shores in a time of dwindling property values resulting in dwindling city revenue.

Grosse Pointe Farms is taking on two of Grosse Pointe Shores' dispatchers and cross-training has been ongoing for at least two months in preparation for the change, originally slated for June 1. 

The project was delayed despite the cities' readiness by a decision at the state level regarding one of the secure databases used by police officers called LEIN. The system contains information about individuals, including criminal histories and other basic information regarding driver's license status. 

Vick said the state had to give Grosse Pointe Farms dispatchers permission to use LEIN for Grosse Pointe Shores police calls and traffic stops.

The permission was necessary but a bit of a technicality because all of the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods emergency responders work together already, backing each other up on traffic stops if other officers from the same department are tied up on another call. That is especially true of any of the communities that neighbor each other, such as the Farms and the Shores. 

The OK from the state came within the last week or so, Vick said, which means the transition can begin.

A secure T1 line is being installed today, Aug. 3, and the Shores patrol cars are beginning to be outfitted with the in-car computers and other necessary technology to provide Shores officers with the same equipment as Farms officers, he said. 

Currently the Shores officers do not use CLEMIS—the database system used by many police departments to enter reports about calls, Vick said. The officers will begin using this system as the other Pointes do and will be taking on more responsibilities following the consolidation, he said. 

There will be a one-week cushion in which the 911 telephone line has been transferred to the Farms dispatch center but Shores dispatchers will remain at their post in the Shores, he said. This is to ensure any miscellaneous calls or transfers from other police departments are not missed, Vick said.

The Shores will notify all area departments of the change, he said, naming St. Clair Shores, Detroit and all of the Pointes. Dispatchers sometimes transfer calls from cell phones, and those are one example of the type of call officials don't want to miss in the transition, he said. A cell phone routes 911 calls to the closest 911 center and then often have to be transferred to the correct department. 

The transition week will likely be sometime in August with the goal of having it complete by Sept. 1, Vick said.

The three-year contract for the consolidation calls for the Shores to pay the Farms $125,000 for the first year and then $92,500 for the second and third year each. Vick said the delay in the state decision won't be a problem with the budget as officials recognized the actual transition wouldn't necessarily follow the original schedule determined in the contract.