The proposed integrated system was one of the several requested items commissioners heard during the first day of budget hearings. On Monday, the commissioners heard requests from the Planning Department, The Sheriff's Office, Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association and technology services.
The new integrated systems would allow for better communication between the Sheriff's Office, the 911 office and the fire companies, Sheriff Jim DeWees said during the hearing.
Currently when someone calls 911, it goes to the 911 center and the call-takers decide where it should go and what services are needed. If the call goes to the Sheriff's Office, it comes across the radio, but deputies have no way to access the information that dispatch sees, DeWees said after the hearing.
The deputies are often forced to get on the radio to confirm the address or get additional information. This can tie up the radio, which prevents other deputies from getting information, DeWees said.
Under the new system, the deputies would be able to see what the 911 center sees in terms of information from the call, DeWees said.
The new system would also allow the agencies to see who responds to a call. Currently, deputies or first responders responding to an incident don't know who responds unless they call for that information, DeWees said during the hearing.
For the fire companies, it would also allow for a system-wide records management system, something they don't have, said New Windsor Volunteer Fire Company Chief Thomas Coe.
Eight of the 14 fire companies have a mobile apparatus that allows them to see where different equipment is, but it's not system-wide, Coe said during the presentation.
With the new system, all companies would have it, and it would allow the fire companies to get real-time data from incidents and it could be used to help equipment communicate how everyone is approaching the fire or emergency, Coe said.
The system would also allow fire companies to be able to submit supplemental reports to an initial report by the primary responding fire company, DeWees said after the hearing.
The new system would cost the county around $1.1 million, but DeWees said the county is already paying approximately paying $500,000 for the current system, so the new system would cost around $600,000. He predicts the county would see a return on the system in three or four years.
Commissioner Richard Rothschild, R-District 4, asked to see where the cuts would come from in order to show that the system would save the county money. He said there are two ways to sell the system — show the commissioners it is needed or show that it'll pay for itself. The second option makes it a "no-brainer," he said.
But he needs to see that the money is going to come to the county.
"But we don't get the savings unless you come back to us and say, 'Commissioners, give us the money to implement it, and then we'll take a small budget reduction each year so the county recaptures the savings,' " Rothschild said. "If you say, 'Give me the money so you can save money,' but we never see a budget reduction, then we don't save any money."
The Sheriff's Office also requested additional funding so that correctional deputies could retire after 25 years of service, instead of 30, as well money for additional personnel for pretrial services. DeWees also requested money for 30 more Taser systems, which would bring the total amount of Taser systems to 100.
Similar to the Sheriff's Office, the CCVESA requested additional funding to help with the Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP), which provides money to firefighters similar to pensions after so many years of service. They are also asking for money for an additional reserve ambulance.
The agency hearings continue Tuesday.
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