The idea of a unified metro-wide emergency dispatch system for area law enforcement got a first hearing in a Kansas City council committee Wednesday.
Assistant City Manager Mike Schumacher told the public safety committee that with existing separate dispatch systems, a crime can occur within a block of a police car, but those officers don't get a call because the need is in a different municipality. And the dispatcher for that municipality doesn't even know the officers are close.
“It's not that that it's done wrong now,” said Schumacher, “but it's worth a conversation of 'can it be done better if one dispatcher sees all of those assets at one time?'”
Shumacher said combining dispatch units could also save money. He offered assurances that the idea is not the start of merging police and fire dispatch or of plans to cut jobs or change salaries or benefits of existing civilian police employees.
Scott Hummell of the Fraternal Order of Police said police bargaining units are open to the idea but want more specific assurances.
Councilman John Sharp said the city should be a part of a regional conversation, conducted through the Mid America Regional Council, but Kansas City should not be the promoter of the idea or any specific plan.
Discussions continue in two weeks.