By Elisabeth Mistretta, Chicago Daily Herald
Itasca, Ill. — About three dozen Itasca residents, volunteers, police officers and dispatchers spoke out Tuesday night against a proposal to consolidate the Itasca Police Department’s emergency dispatch center.

As village leaders look to save money in the face of declining revenues, they are considering eliminating the emergency dispatch center and sourcing 911 calls to DuPage Public Safety Communications, also called DU-COMM, or to the Addison Police Department. Leaders already have cut in other areas to account for falling sales tax revenue and sagging state aid.

While fielding questions from concerned and angry residents, Village President Jeff Pruyn said no decisions have been made.

“This is just fact-finding,” he said. “If this meeting was just about the money, it would have ended as soon as (we saw) the figures on savings.”

Police Chief Scott Heher presented a study that shows the Itasca police communications division would cost about $470,000 to operate next year with six dispatchers. A move to DU-COMM, which handles emergency calls for about 30 municipalities in DuPage and parts of Cook and Kane counties, could save about $120,000 annually.

The group would not handle nonemergency calls, which make up about 90 percent of the more than 35,000 calls received each year by Itasca’s dispatch center.

Even more money could be trimmed in a consolidation with Addison, the study said, bringing the savings to about $245,000 annually. Addison also agreed to handle non-emergency calls.

But Heher said outsourcing to Addison would cause other issues and formally recommended against any changes.

“Certainly we have a number of concerns, including the lobby being closed to walk-ins,” Heher said. “But since we would cease to be a 24-hour center, files like stolen vehicle and missing persons cases would have to be kept in Addison.”

Longtime residents and employees spent more than an hour telling the village board they oppose any consolidation. Many said people in Itasca expect a better quality of life, with some even offering to pay higher village fees for local dispatch.

Others took elected officials to task for touting the state-of-the-art dispatch center in a 2004 village newsletter, when Itasca opened its $7 million village hall and police station.

“Our nice center that we paid money for would be just a phone outside the door,” said resident John Dakajos. “God forbid an emergency happened and somebody died (because there was no one to help inside the building).”

As several people in Tuesday’s audience cited similar safety concerns, Trustee Mike Latoria reminded them that the village board members also live in Itasca.

“We’re not going to sacrifice safety to save money, but we do have a responsibility to look at the overall picture of everything,” Latoria said. “Do you think I’d sacrifice my family’s safety? I have four kids … We are all Itascans. This may not be the solution, but we have to look at every penny.”

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