By Cheryl Splain, KnoxPages.com Reporter
MOUNT VERNON — Based on the volume of calls thus far, Knox County 9-1-1 is on pace to respond to 50,000 or more service calls this year.
Laura Webster, 9-1-1 operations director, told the county commissioners on Tuesday that from Jan. 1 to Oct. 30, the dispatchers sent law enforcement, fire or EMS on 40,518 calls. That’s up from 36,509 for the same period last year.
She noted that the number of suspicious persons (1,634) and suspicious vehicles (846) are up compared to 2016 (970 and 603, respectively).
“What that tells me is that the community is getting a little more involved,” said Webster. “People are calling and they are reporting things.”
Webster said a planned phone upgrade is an example of the new technology needed to run the center. Gone are the days when dispatchers recorded calls with pen and paper and used a wall map and the county directory for dispatching safety teams. When a call comes in now, one dispatcher is on the phone with the caller, another on the phone dispatching a unit and a map appears on the computer screen.
“All of that technology is happening in a nanosecond,” said Jason Booth, county administrator.
Knox County is partnering with Crawford County on the phone upgrade, a move Booth said will save the county $50,000 to $75,000. “Morrow County is thinking about partnering, too. If they do, that will be another cost savings,” said Webster.
The savings comes through splitting the cost of the annual maintenance contract.
With the partnership, Knox County’s backup will be via Crawford County; conversely, Crawford County’s system will be backed up through Knox County. That eliminates the need for Knox County to have a separate system at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and results in two benefits:
*Eliminates the risk that the KCSO backup equipment might be subject to the same tornado, HAZMAT or other adverse incident as the 911 center
*Eliminates the cost of equipment not being used
Webster said she has given many tours of the 911 center to other counties. “Morrow County asked us if we would train their dispatch staff,” she said.
She also said Knox County dispatchers will undergo critical incident training to better prepare them for dealing with callers with mental health issues. The training will be extended to Kenyon College dispatchers as well.
Also on Tuesday, the commissioners signed a resolution establishing the Knox County Land Bank. It becomes the 47th land bank in Ohio and is a private, nonprofit entity.
Jeff Harris, president of the Area Development Foundation, said the next steps include filing paperwork with the state, selecting a board and determining a home for the land bank. The ADF board meets Monday and will discuss what role, if any, the ADF will play in administering the land bank.
The commissioners also signed a contract to pay Jim Rokakis of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy $5,000 for the initial onsite work getting the land bank up and running. The conservancy’s typical contract is $15,000; a grant from the Ohio Financing Agency will pay the additional $10,000.