North Shore Leaders to Vote on Bayside Handling 9-1-1 Cell Calls
Dave Fidlin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
Glendale – People dialing 911 on a cellphone will be routed to the new consolidated police dispatch center in Bayside, based on a proposal approved by the Glendale Common Council on Monday.
Last month, the joint dispatch center began operations, consolidating functions that had been performed in Bayside, Brown Deer and Whitefish Bay. As part of the consolidation effort, the revamped Bayside facility features new equipment capable of taking 911 cellular calls from people within any of the seven North Shore municipalities in Milwaukee County.
While the Bayside dispatch center is equipped to take 911 calls from land lines, emergency calls from cells are routed to either the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s office or the city of Milwaukee’s dispatch center, 2333 N. 49th St.
Officials in each of the seven communities will be voting on the switch to Bayside soon. Glendale City Administrator Richard Maslowski said he believed it was a worthwhile effort. Currently, a 911 cell call has to be rerouted back to a local police station after initially going to the sheriff or city of Milwaukee.
“Seconds could mean life,” Maslowski said.
Modern cellphones are equipped to provide information to a designated public safety answering point. More recently, the state has approved legislation that has provided an opt-out for municipalities wishing to separate from a county-designated PSAP.