Politics & Government
Waukesha County Won't Take Over Dispatch from City of Waukesha
As Muskego heads toward further litigation to wrest control of Cell 911 access from the County, the Waukesha Common Council votes to maintain their own city dispatch center for the time being.
Muskego's fight with Waukesha County over who gets to handle cell 911 calls from within Muskego is only one of several discussions municipalities have been having over the county's communications center (WCCC), with the result being in favor of local officials handling their own business.
The to stay with its city dispatch center – for now. The issue could come back as aldermen continue exploring the possibility of consolidating the city dispatch center with the WCCC.
While the Common Council voted unanimously to maintain the dispatch center, aldermen could reconsider the option as more research is completed. Under council rules, items typically can’t be brought back for another vote until a year has passed, according to discussion at the meeting, but if the council wishes to rescind a vote during that year, it may do so.
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It is unclear when the issue will come back.
An earlier meeting featured, who has not been shy in his opposition of the WCCC's continued handling of wireless 911 calls coming from the city. (Muskego has always maintained that as they now have the technology and personnel to handle cell 911 calls, the time saved from first contact to having emergency response on scene would save lives as well.) At that meeting, Waukesha city officials deferred a decision in order to gather more information.
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The Waukesha County Communications Center dispatches for more than two dozen agencies in the area. An analysis done by the reviewed calls at some of those agencies, with the Brookfield Police Department saying it had the most problems with county dispatch.
Joining the county’s dispatch center would save the city on average $14 per household per year during the next 10 years, according to an analysis done by the Waukesha Police Department. However, public comment was largely in favor of keeping the services for all dispatch local.
Muskego will seek further action as early as summer if the County declines to respond or refuses to allow cellular routes to stay within the city.
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