Richland County 911 Emergency Center unveils $1 million upgrade

Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal
·2 min read
The new $1 million Richland County 911 operations center was unveiled to the public Wednesday at the former Peoples Community Center, 597 Park Avenue East. Dispatchers previously sat in a cramped room elsewhere in the building.
The new $1 million Richland County 911 operations center was unveiled to the public Wednesday at the former Peoples Community Center, 597 Park Avenue East. Dispatchers previously sat in a cramped room elsewhere in the building.

The $1 million upgrade at the Richland County 911 emergency operations center was unveiled Wednesday at the former People's Community Center building, 597 Park Avenue East.

The new and modern 911 operations center, which has been up and operational since last fall, was opened to local community leaders and elected officials Wednesday morning.

"It's night and day from where we were," Richland County Sheriff's Capt. Jimmy Sweat said. "We're extremely proud of where we're at in our new home."

Sweat said the upgrade boosts the creature comforts for the dispatchers, including the heating and air conditioning along with all new call center equipment — the hardware, software and call answering systems have been upgraded.

New text-to-911 service to go live in February

"We're just about done with text to 911. In about a month or so we should be live with text to 911 and live with all the state-of-the-art capabilities," Sweat said.

Sweat said the 911 center is authorized for 16 dispatchers and currently there are 12.

Jodie Perry, president of the Richland Area Chamber/Economic Development, helped the Richland County Sheriff's Office celebrate the public unveiling of the new 911 Operations Center Wednesday at 597 Park Avenue East.
Jodie Perry, president of the Richland Area Chamber/Economic Development, helped the Richland County Sheriff's Office celebrate the public unveiling of the new 911 Operations Center Wednesday at 597 Park Avenue East.

"Additionally we've very excited the county commissioners just approved a raise for the dispatchers, using this as a springboard for the recruitment tool," Sweat said. "Some of the highlights of the new contract: Their starting wage will be increased to $18.60 per hour for now and by 2024 the starting wage will be $19.73 per hour."

Sweat said the top wage for this year will be $23.60 and $25.07 for 2024.

He said the department has added the ability to do lateral transfers for dispatchers working for other agencies, allowing for both pay and fringe benefits.

The 911 center handles all wireless calls that originate in Richland County at the county 911 center.

"The only calls that aren't answered here initially are landline calls from the city of Mansfield," Sweat said. "That's approximately about 3,000 to 3,500 calls a year. But of the other 60,000 to 70,000 calls a year, they all originate here and then we transfer them to the appropriate location or keep them here."

Dispatchers also provide pre-arrival instructions to public

Sweat said for the past three years the 911 dispatchers also have provided emergency medical dispatching, providing pre-arrival instructions to the residents and the public.

"We've saved multiple lives with that, being able to provide CPR and first aid until first responders arrive," Sweat said.

With cell towers out and around the county and the radio project, Sweat said the total cost of the upgrades is about $3 million.

Sweat said funds came from the county general fund and capital improvement funds, wireless funds to the sheriff's office, non-general fund money, sheriff's revolving fund and more.

Also upgraded at the former Peoples Community Center building was the sheriff's records office and the patrol area.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County 911 Emergency Operations Center upgraded