May 30, 2024
Lake County Board Set to Consider Major 9-1-1 Consolidation Agreements
Following approval at Lake County Board committee meetings this week, the Board will vote on measures to move the consolidation of 9-1-1 and emergency dispatch services forward as a founding member of two new agencies. Two intergovernmental agreements (IGAs), approved at the committee level, will be up for consideration at the County Board meeting on Tuesday, June 11.
The first IGA has Lake County becoming a founding member of LakeComm, which will serve as the consolidated Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for those partnering agencies. A PSAP is a 9-1-1 call center responsible for answering calls to an emergency telephone number for law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services. It plays a critical role in ensuring that emergency calls are quickly and efficiently routed to the appropriate response units, thereby enhancing public safety and reducing response times.
"By consolidating our 9-1-1 dispatch centers, telecommunicators can provide faster and more coordinated responses to emergencies, ultimately saving time and more importantly, lives," said Sandy Hart, Lake County Board Chair.
The second IGA initiates the process to establish a joint Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB) from a number of local ETSBs. An ETSB receives 9-1-1 surcharge funds and is an oversight board responsible for managing the operational aspects of the 9-1-1 system. This includes maintaining the equipment, managing the budget, and ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations. A new joint ETSB would then require final approval from the State of Illinois 9-1-1 Administrator.
For over a decade, 9-1-1 consolidation has been a top priority for Lake County and its municipal partners. This initiative was spearheaded by Illinois Law (50 ILCS 750/15.4a), which mandates that any county with a population of at least 250,000 and more than one ETSB to consolidate its ETSBs so that no 9-1-1 authority in the county serves a population of less than 25,000 residents. Since then, the State continues to support additional consolidations.
"I want to thank our committee, staff and all of the partnering agencies that have put so much time into this," said Mary Ross-Cunningham, Lake County Board Vice-Chair and Chair of the Law and Judicial Committee. "9-1-1 consolidation has been a key initiative for our committee for a long time, and we're excited that this effort is nearing the finish line, and the door will continue to remain open for other agencies to join as the consolidation moves forward."
The IGAs follow the groundbreaking for the Regional Operations and Communications Facility and the implementation earlier this year of a state-of-the-art computer software system by local law enforcement and fire agencies. The new software has streamlined operations by consolidating more than 15 systems into a single, integrated package. This includes Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), records management, and law enforcement reporting.
|
