Exclusive: 9-1-1 call centers consolidated

LITCHFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) -- News 8 has uncovered exclusive details into the consolidation of three state police 9-1-1 call centers.

Three State Police dispatch centers have been consolidated into one and an internal report, exclusively obtained by News 8, says the change is working a lot better than before.

• Click here to read the report

If you have an emergency and you dial 9-1-1, the expectation is you will receive an answer within a few seconds, because seconds in an emergency can really matter. But there are now questions as to whether or not that is always happening in a huge section of western Connecticut.
      
In an economy move, three former dispatch zones at three Western Connecticut State Police barracks have been consolidated to one dispatch center in Litchfield.
    
Representative David Scribner is one of several Western Connecticut state lawmakers that has been told that as many as 50 calls in one day have not been been responded to initially.

"Because they're not responded to quickly enough, they either go away, or they go into some kind of recorded machine," Scribner said. "But the truth is they're not getting responded to in a time frame that's acceptable."

"As in all dispatchers, all dispatch centers, when a flood of calls come in from an accident, and if there's four operators, they can't handle 40 calls all at once," said Col. Dan Stebbins from the Connecticut State Police.
      
Stebbins explained that the four people taking the calls that used to be handled by six have actually reduced the percentage of calls that go unanswered. He also said the average wait time is just five and a quarter seconds, well within the national standard.   

The department and the local lawmakers have the same goal.

"Whatever efficiency measures that they are proposing and implementing, will, at no time compromise the level of response and the level of public safety, which is our greatest concern," Scribner said.
     
Stebbins says the implication that the consolidation is in someway jeopardizing public safety is being generated by the Troopers Union.

"It's a rub between the union and the administration," he said. "People do not like change. Change is very difficult to undergo and we're making change to improve our services."

To say that relations between the Troopers Union and Malloy administration have deteriorated would be an understatement. The union endorsed the Governor in the last election, but on Thursday, the head of the Troopers Union, Sgt. Andy Mathews, told News 8 they are moving forward with their 'no confidence' vote for the Col. Stebbins and Commissioner Reuben Bradford.