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SPENCER – Spencer’s police and fire/emergency departments are among five communities contemplating changing to a regional dispatch system.
A survey to garner input from residents is located on their Facebook web pages.
During a kick off meeting last month, representatives from Spencer, Charlton, Southbridge, Sturbridge and Auburn met with consultants from Mission Critical Partners, LLC, to discuss their current 911 services and the difficulties they are experiencing as individual dispatch agencies.
While currently collecting information, the consulting firm expects to analyze the data from December 2024 to February 2025 and then work on a draft report through April 2025.
Following a review of the report via video conference calls, an in-person presentation is anticipated that will include stakeholders such as government officials and community members.
Representing Spencer at the meeting were Police Chief Michael Befford, Fire Chief Robert Parsons, Selectman Jared Grigg and Town Administrator Jeff Bridges.
Befford said they are hoping to “expand the excellence we provide to the community.” He noted it is the dispatcher’s job to “handle the radio for the officer in transit to ensure they are going to be safe and get back to the station at the end of the night.”
Parsons said Spencer had been involved previously in two similar studies but those discussions “sunk,” because the town was not going to have an ample say in the operations.
He said a regional dispatch system should not be looked at in terms of only cost savings. “We’re still going to have stations, prisoner watches, etc., but we’ll get a much better product – more professional and better training,” Parsons said.
Staffing was a major topic, both in terms of quality and retention.
Across the five communities, the representatives talked about “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” and how they are in competition with other each other and other neighboring towns to attract applicants and keep them.
Parsons noted, “We need to make it a place where people want to come to work. Every town has a staffing issue.”
Bridges said the consultant’s role is to produce a product that translates to the public, “showing the wisdom and necessity of regional dispatch. Staffing shortages are a big deal,” he said.
Spencer has the smallest operation of the towns with three full-time 911 positions and two per diem dispatchers, according to the police chief. Befford said the dispatchers work within the police department with the senior dispatcher acting as a supervisor.
In addition to regular dispatch duties, that person handles scheduling and reports to a lieutenant and ultimately him, Befford said.
The police chief said Spencer needs more dispatch power and people get “burnt out,” handling all the radios, phones and other duties.
Salary rates are a primary issue when it comes to attracting and keeping dispatchers. A quick survey of the room showed starting rates as follows: Spencer–$22.00; Southbridge–$21.00; Auburn–$26.63; Charlton–$27.79 and Sturbridge—unknown (fire chief to obtain that information).
Other issues cited included quality of life (vacation time, gym memberships and other perks); the ability to move up in the organization; professional development; and health insurance costs.
For example, Charlton has an 80/20% ratio on health insurance.
The consultant suggested the agencies conduct “stay interviews,” not just asking people what it would take for them to remain in their positions. Instead, he said all staff should be polled as to what is keeping them in their jobs, what they like about the organization, what the agency is doing as an employer that makes them want to look elsewhere, etc.
Bridges noted that Spencer is supportive of its public safety departments. However, he spoke about the limits of Proposition 2 ½ and how that cap limits what they can do.
He said the state gives money initially to get regional dispatch centers up and running but afterwards, the communities involved still must adhere to the Proposition 2 ½ limits with their local contributions.
Parsons said the communities can learn from WESTCOMM (the regional dispatch service for western Massachusetts), while other chiefs suggested asking Bay Path and other regional schools how their assessments work.
Governance was another topic of discussion, with Bridges noting each town “gives up a level of sovereignty in this process” and in exchange, gets representation.
The consultant said there are various models including having two boards, one on the operational side and the other for finance and administration.
He said they would look at different models with the goal of giving each community a “seat at the table.”
