Commission signs to merge 911 dispatch

A big topic of concern over the past few months in Perry County from both residents and the police and sheriff departments came to a conclusion. In front of approximately one dozen people the Perry County Commission signed an agreement to merge the 911 dispatch with St. Francois County.
The Commission considered four different options and eventually decided upon the merger.
“Merging our dispatch operations with SFC911 was first considered in 2017 when the County ultimately decided to contract with SFC911 to utilize their back-end dispatch equipment,” said the Commission and the Perryville Board of Aldermen in a letter released Monday morning. “At that time, user cell phone geo-location technology had not yet advanced to a point of reliability that community leadership found acceptable. Geolocation is now a NextGen911 universal standard aiding service providers enroute to emergencies. This option comes at the cost of $545,000, is the most cost effective and efficient option for the community and adheres to the state and national trends of merging dispatch departments. We have visited St. Francois County, met with their leadership team and users of the service, and are absolutely convinced this is a viable option for effective, efficient dispatch service to provide our citizens with the best available 911 services going forward.”
The two entities had debated asking the community for a new tax, but decided against the increased spending of funds.
“Initially, there was much discussion about the possibility of asking the community to support a new tax, essentially designed to allow dispatch to remain local. We do not feel increased spending is the best solution for our community. Asking our community to support a new tax is something we take very seriously and have only pursued when there was no other viable option to support a community project.,” the letter stated “At this point, the truth is simple, we believe we can do better with the money you have already entrusted us with, and we can use it to provide improved resources and advanced technology. Looking to the future is the solution. The option of merging with SFC911 also allows us to incur annual savings, and in turn, invest those resources in other critical services for our community. SFC911 has requested 12 months to fully prepare for our integration and, in the coming weeks, we will enter into an agreement to fully integrate into their dispatch operations.”
Perry County Sheriff Jason Klaus was disappointed in the decision to merge the local 911 dispatch, especially when it comes to his officers and deputies and their relationship with dispatch personnel.

“We met with all of the communication officers and advised them of the potential resolution that was first read last week and obviously just signed here just a few minutes ago. And as far as their voice and what they want, obviously it’s extremely disappointing on behalf of the employees that we currently have in those roles,” Klaus said. “We listened. I heard them. We also looked at what the future may bring. And we talked about the deficiencies that we know in our current system. Again, it’s a it’s a major issue for us. It affects every single thing that we do at the sheriff’s office. Everything that we do starts with dispatch, almost everything that does so. So those voices, obviously, and the concerns moving forward or of highest priority to me at this point, almost above anything else.”
Klaus was also concerned with the employees and if some of the current staff would be transitioned to another position or lose their job entirely.
“My communication officers that have certifications and my employees feel like those certifications, the things that they’ve done to achieve them and still utilize and I think that will make better proficiencies for our patrol officers that are out on the street, what happens in our jail and also just overall.
The County and City are asking the residents and those concerned to support their decision in the long run.
“The idea of the Perry County Joint Justice Center was built on a promise to provide improved, efficient, effective operations for the citizens we are called to serve. As we have tirelessly worked on this once-in-a-century community project, operations have been at the forefront of virtually every discussion. Efficient service delivery and available technology have been considered at every step and our “Stronger Together” mantra and collaboration between agencies has yielded efficiencies beyond our expectations.” The letter stated. “This new model of service delivery offers our community opportunities to deliver services in ways not considered, or even possible, before but, because of advancements in technology, are fully possible now. “
The full letter can be found on page 10A.