Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
After years of looking into the move as a cost-saving measure, township officials are leaning toward transferring police dispatch services in Hillsborough to the county within the first few months of 2018.
Since 2010, municipal and law enforcement officials have been weighing the potential benefits and risks associated with shuttering the Hillsborough Police Department’s dispatch unit and entering into a shared services agreement with Somerset County for those capabilities.
On Tuesday, Committeeman Frank DelCore cited financial benefits as a major reason behind such a decision.
“Consideration of Somerset County dispatch is a continuation of our ongoing efforts to utilize shared services, where possible, as a means to reduce cost and benefit our taxpayers,” DelCore, who serves as the committee’s liaison to the police department, said.
If approved and completed, Hillsborough would join Branchburg, Peapack-Gladstone, Bedminster, Montgomery, Bridgewater and seven additional municipalities in the county’s police dispatch program.
Hillsborough already utilizes the county’s dispatch services for its 911 calls and fire dispatch.
“This is really more about shared services – that’s just where the world is moving,” Business Administrator Anthony Ferrera said. “With all of these towns already doing this, it means having less employees in each town and it’s allowing for better services in the long run.”
Hillsborough currently employs six full-time police dispatchers. At least one dispatcher is on hand at all times, officials said, providing officers with information ranging from warrant checks to emergency calls on a 24-hour basis.
According to the 2017 salary range ordinance, police dispatchers make anywhere between $40,196 and $56,078 a year. That figure does not include any benefits.
In the event that the township moves forward with the county, Ferrera said those six positions would be eliminated as a result. That information, he said, has already been relayed to the current group of dispatchers, as well as their union representatives in Teamsters Local 701.
“We are working with our employees now with an understanding that we’re going to be phasing that job out and trying to move them, whether it’s with the county or someone else,” Ferrera said. “We want to take care of them.”
Union representatives could not be reached for a comment on the matter.
While a reduction in yearly operating costs can be alluring for the township’s administration, Ferrera said there were other benefits to a possible agreement.
“It’s not just employee salaries, but it’s also the technology aspect in keeping up with the radios and keeping up with the latest and greatest,” Ferrera said. “If you add up the salaries and the equipment, it’s a pretty big cost savings to the township.”
Under any potential shared services agreement, the county would be responsible for the upkeep and modernization of its communications systems. Currently, any upgrades or repairs needed for the police department’s facilities would fall solely on the department.
Though the township recently sent a letter to Somerset County Administrator Mike Amarosa stating its intent to move forward with the transition, officials set the first quarter 2018 date as a “moving target” since they say they are still in the transition’s early “fact-finding stage.”
“We’re trying to look at what other towns do and getting a plan together to see how we can implement it for Hillsborough,” Police Chief Darren Powell said.
To that end, officials said Hillsborough was watching how Bridgewater Township handled its recent transition, with both Powell and Ferrerra talking with their respective counterparts there.
“We want to learn from Bridgewater’s transition to see where we can improve and where we can avoid some of the things that they’ve already had to fix,” Ferrera said.
As a result of those discussions, Ferrera said Hillsborough learned that there needs to be a thorough test of the county’s technical capabilities to ensure that existing equipment can handle the township’s needs. There are currently plans to begin testing late in the third quarter this year.
“No one can say we’ve taken a knee-jerk reaction to this, because this is something that we’ve been looking at for many years,” Ferrera said. “This is something inside the police department, the committee and the administration that we want to make sure that everything’s in place so that when it does move forward, we’ve done everything we can.”
Meanwhile, Powell said his trepidation with the transition rests largely on how it may impact the department’s daily operation, since its officers and dispatchers have their own systems already in place.
“I’m more concerned about the operational processes, like how our dispatchers communicate with our officers and how it’s going to be done at the county level,” the chief said. “There may be a learning curve and it’s my understanding that it does take a couple months for everyone to get used to a new way of doing things.”
According to Powell, the police department currently uses a records management system that handles dispatching, police reports, scheduling and other important functions. Since his officers are “very happy with the system,” he said he would like to be able to continue using and maintaining it, though that would mean coordinating with the county’s records management vendor to make sure everything is compatible.
Ferrera said officials were willing to take as much time as needed to ensure that those issues are addressed.
“There’s no hard line in the sand that this has to be done at a certain date and time,” he said. “It’s going to be done when we believe that it’s 100 percent and we’re confident that it can work.”
