During superstorm Sandy, 8,000 calls flooded consoles at the Monmouth County 911 Communications Center in Freehold Township within a 24-hour period.
“We answered all the calls,” Cynthia Scott, public information officer for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, said at the dedication of the office’s new Public Safety Center on April 29.
“Not to say that we could not have handled a little more,” Scott said in an interview, “but with the new building, we could easily handle those 8,000 on top of another 8,000 calls.”
Local and state officials cut the ribbon for the new Public Safety Center, where technological upgrades, expansive space and state-of-the-art equipment, including 52 new consoles, will triple the volume of calls that dispatchers can take.
“If another Sandy were to occur, now we have this Public Safety Center where all our emergency services are under one roof and we can dispatch whatever we would need to,” Scott said.
The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Center brings county emergency services under one roof. The new 45,000-square-foot center was dedicated on April 29. The 45,000-square-foot Public Safety Center at 2500 Kozloski Road is adjacent to the 911 communications center, which will become part of the county police academy.
Sheriff Shaun Golden said the Public Safety Center houses the Communications Division, the Sheriff’s Office, records that were previously stored in trailers and the county Office of Emergency Management.
“If you saw our old closet of an office, you would be shocked,” Golden said in an interview at the dedication. “It was 25 years old and really inadequate for what we were using it for.
“We have so many new systems in here, like the GPS on emergency vehicles, new radio frequencies, dispatch desks and so much collaboration between departments and within departments.
“We have the new OEM offices for our various chiefs of police and fire, and even video surveillance of the [Freehold Raceway Mall], train stations and other county buildings. This is the way public safety should work,” he said.
Golden said the $23.2 million building was partially funded by a grant. A projected $4 million in annual shared-services fees will help to pay off the debt in less than a decade, he said.
“We have been hiring 911 dispatchers, which I think is a testament to us being one of the most aggressive shared services in the state. Monmouth County is a model,” Golden said.
Six computer screens sprang to life as Senior Public Safety Telecommunicator Dawn Dupre demonstrated the center’s capabilities for dispatch services.
The operation includes a GPS for officers, radio system monitoring and a computer aided dispatch system that crosspatches those answering the calls and those dispatching them. “Agencies involved in any large-scale event could come here, and we have more than enough room to set up a base of operations. It makes communication much easier,” Scott said, adding that new technology integrates emergency dispatch.
“Unlike the old building that had a single frequency radio system, the new building provides interoperability with county and local responders,” she said. “The new technology unites local and county data and voice communication, which is not something we had before Sandy or even [Tropical Storm] Irene. Everyone is on the same network now, which means communication and looking up information is much easier and quicker.”
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno said the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Center is an example of the shared services the state is promoting.
“I don’t think you can put a price tag on what they are doing [here]. Not only are [they] saving lives, but also saving money,” said Guadagno, who preceded Golden as Monmouth County sheriff. “There are 45 Monmouth County [municipalities] working out of this building right now. I hope we can continue to be the ultimate shared service. This is proof and evidence that shared services work, and it is an example for the rest of New Jersey.”
The communications division of the Sheriff’s Office answers 911 calls for 45 municipalities, plus Naval Weapons Stations Earle, Gateway National Recreation Area-Sandy Hook, Monmouth University and Brookdale Community College.
The division also provides dispatch services for 20 police departments, 56 fire companies and 30 first aid squads. The division answers an average of 550,000 calls per year.