Issue of the Month: Kent County Dispatch Authority

Since 2007 the County has made significant progress in providing county citizens the ability to get emergency services with one phone call to 911. We started with the appointment of an eleven member Kent County Dispatch Authority (KCDA). During the past six years the Authority has (1) consolidated public safety dispatch from nine centers into two major redundant centers—the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County Sheriff’s Department (2) reduced 911 transfers between dispatch centers by establishing new wireless 911 direct call routing schemes, and (3) implemented new call handling technology so that efficiency and quality of information is improved. These have led to faster response times for emergency workers. The annual budget for the KCDA is about $5 million. There are two major sources of funding—one a state surcharge of .29 per cell phone that brings in $1 Million, and the other a county surcharge of .45 cents per cell phone bringing in another $4 Million. Out of the revenue received about $2.5 Million is dedicated to operations and the remainder used to fund administrative costs as well as equipment replacement and maintenance. During the next year the KCDA is planning to purchase $150,000 worth of equipment to implement the Priority Dispatch Emergency Medical Dispatch system at each of the two call centers. This will give Kent County residents access to medial pre-arrival instructions without the need to transfer the caller to another location. It will also study the cost of a new county-wide interoperable radio system that will serve all public safety agencies. A recent report by Curtis Holt, Chair of the Authority stressed the need to continue funding the Authority. Check out more information at www.Kent911.org.