New Public Safety Task Force Takes on 911 Consolidation
When residents call 911, they don’t necessarily think about
all that goes on behind the scenes – they expect first responders to arrive as
quickly as possible to provide help. The public doesn’t see that depending on
where they call from, their 911 call could go to one of 19 dispatching centers
across the county.
Over the last several years, Lake County along with fire,
police, municipal and other public safety leaders have been discussing
opportunities to consolidate many centers
into a few regional 911 centers. A newly created task force will meet for
the first time this week to advance this initiative.
Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor said, “In 2014, we convened our first
Lake County Leaders Summit and subsequent roundtable meetings with local
leaders. The number one issue that came out of those discussions was the need
to evaluate 911 consolidation. Our public
safety partners from across the county are working collaboratively to shape the
future of 911 in Lake County. This presents tremendous opportunities to improve
quality, efficiency, and provide cost savings.”
Lawlor will serve on the 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Task Force along with fire, police, and municipal
leaders. The first meeting will take place Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 3:30 p.m. at the
Division of Transportation in Libertyville.
“Through this effort, I
hope to demonstrate an effective way to advance government consolidation,”
Lawlor said. “It has been done successfully elsewhere, and I’m confident we can
do it here. This is the first step.”
Regional consolidation will impact multiple agencies from
various jurisdictions across the county, including Lake County government, the
Sheriff’s Office/911 dispatch, emergency telephone system boards, fire
departments and districts, police services,
public safety answering points, cities, villages and other stakeholders.
As this is the group’s first meeting, a timeline for
developing recommendations has not yet been determined.
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Contact: Jennie Vana
Communications Manager
Lake County Administrator's Office
Email Address: jvana@lakecountyil.gov
Phone Number: 847.377.2154
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