Manchester officers push against move to regional dispatch | News | gloucestertimes.com
MANCHESTER — Members of the Manchester Police Department are still hesitant about the town looking to take its public safety dispatch operations to the North Shore Regional 911 Center in Middleton.
Selectmen and Town Administrator Greg Federspiel hosted a forum from last week to field questions from the public regarding the future of Manchester’s dispatch center. The town and fire Chief Jason Cleary would like to have two dispatchers on per shift, rather than the current one, who handles dispatch duties for the Police and Fire departments.
“Our objections to regionalization have always been about putting the needs of the community we serve first,” said Manchester police lead dispatcher Katie Elwell, on behalf of her fellow dispatchers, during a public forum Tuesday. “We do not believe that our community will achieve better services by joining an unproven and untested regional center with towns with which Manchester has minimal connections to. We perform services and take calls for residents that faceless outside dispatchers are simply not equipped to answer…
