Central Dispatch - 911
Non-Emergency Phone Number 231-689-5288

History

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1978    Newaygo County was the second 9-1-1 Center to come on line in Michigan! 

They dispatch all emergencies within Newaygo County for Fire – Police - EMS

1978 - 1993  Newaygo County Sheriff dispatched  all Emergencies      from the Sheriff Dept.

1991    Sgt. Stan Nieboer was given the charge of starting the move from the Sheriff Dept. fully controlling the 911 center to the Sheriff’s vision of moving dispatch to another level.

1993    It was the Vision of the Sheriff’s Office to move out of the 9-1-1 Business allowing his full attention to the Road Patrol / Jail  and hire a full-time Director who would hire a complete staff of civilian dispatchers to establish a separate 9-1-1 Center for Newaygo County.  This was accomplished in June of 1993.

Early Funding for the 9-1-1 Center came from a millage  Road Patrol/ Dispatch requested and supported by the voters in the amount of 1 mill for both.

1993 / June - Director Peter LeFavour  was hired to oversee the move of the 911 dispatch center from a 12x12 foot room to a 750 sq ft area. Where a second Motorola Centercom II control station  was purchased.

1993 / October - A Sur-Charge on your telephone bill was requested and approved by a vote of the people.   This money is what funds dispatch 100%.

1993 /  October - The people of Newaygo county voted to go from a Basic 9-1-1 Center to an Enhanced Center.  (the Basic center was one where callers could dial 9-1-1 and receive help but that caller wasn’t able to be identified by the 9-1-1 center. )  Example;  If   a child or elderly person called who didn’t know where they were no one could be sent out to help!  The Enhanced allowed the 9-1-1 Center to receive the callers name-address-telephone number + Fire-EMS- Police information for that area.

             Due to the Counties 25% growth over the past 10 years it has been necessary to develop a  plan to both increase and update our 9-1-1 system from 1993.   Cellular telephones have accelerated this need for change since we now need more equipment to identify the callers location by GPS (global positioning satellites) or the Triangular method using the signal from three or more Cell Towers to identify the location of the call since there isn’t a numerical address available.

2003 / June 10 - Moved  from the Sheriff’s Office to a new Center located on the Newaygo County Campus in White Cloud with all new equipment. Motorola Radios,  Mapping,  Furniture. Generator.

We have purchased Watson Furniture / Motorola Radios and moved our present location to this center in an effort to keep up with the growth in Newaygo County.

We have two dispatchers on each shift 24/7 and on weekends and holidays we add an additional dispatcher due to the increased call volume.

The consoles  are  designed with the dispatcher in mind!   They are able to move the work surface up or down to conform to their needs and if sitting may move it up to stand for awhile to change their posture.   Ergonomics is important to us and all switches lights and other buttons are within easy reach to prevent excess movement.

(new dispatcher desk)

             The recordings are digital and can be saved on hard-drive or CD Rom to capture all incoming and outgoing radio-telephone audio for future use by the police-prosecutor if needed during an investigation.

All consoles are alike and this helps the dispatcher if they need to move from one work area to another.   The “lazy-susan” in the middle of the room is for reference books that may be needed by any dispatcher in the communication center.

Soundproofing has been added to the walls and this is the same type as used in the IMAX Theater in Grand Rapids!

The most interesting note is that, everything purchased for this new upgrade has been planned for the past 8 years and no extra funding was requested of the citizens of Newaygo County.   Again we begin to save for our future growth in the next 7-10 years!

2003 / December - 800Mz Radios

All new 800 Mz radios were purchased for Law-Enforcement county wide from a grant.  This grant was a COPS grant where $298,000.00 was secured and every patrol vehicle was equipped was a mobile radio and officers were given portable radios that network with the State of Michigan towering system for MPSCS.  These radios averaged $2,200.00 each and are able to talk statewide for interoperability.

2006    MDT  Mobile Data Terminals in Police Vehicles

A project was developed to provide 36 laptop computers for police vehicles to communicate directly with Lansing LEIN ( Law Enforcement Information Network) to receive information on registration plates on vehicles and wants / warrants on people.  This was a Homeland Security Grant and will place these laptops in all Police Departments within Newaygo County.  This grant / installation was a co-op effort between Dispatch and every police agency.  Officer Matt Hendrie from the Fremont Police Department took the lead on the technical side.

1978    Sheriff Started 911

1991    Sheriff appointed Sgt. Stan Nieboer as Newaygo Counties first Director

1993    Sheriff hired Peter C. LeFavour as the first Civilian 9-1-1 Director

1993 / October - a Sur-Charge was passed in the amount of $1.78 to fund the 9-1-1 operation by a vote of the public.

1993    Began the move from a 12X12ft. room to a new 750sq. ft. center within the Jail

1994 / March - Sheriff turned over the 9-1-1 to a Civilian 10 Member Board to run

1994 / July - a new Motorola Base radio was purchased to give the Dispatch two main radios.  Also we moved from a Basic 9-1-1 system to Enhanced (dispatch could ID the caller as soon as an emergency call was made to dispatch)  approx. $125,000. for the radio and  another $75,000/00 for the Enhanced portion.

1995    Switched from “paper/pencil” to Computer Aided Dispatch for report logs

1996    Purchased a new Digital Recorder to replace our Old Dictaphone Real to Real $34,000.00

1997    Added a new position of Information Technology to deal with all the computers

1998    Hired an Assistant Director to help in the day to day tasks and supervise employees

2000    Upgraded all computer systems to handle the possibility of 2YK trouble

2001    Started plans to move dispatch to new quarters for needed space.

2002    Kurt Humphrey offered the lower level of the FIA Building  for our move.

2003    June, moved into a 3,500sq.ft. area with all new electronics.

New Motorola Radio System (three positions) both High Band and 800mhz.     $250,000.00

Added Watson Furniture for four (4) work-stations. Wired for Lights/computers $60,000.00

Build-out of new center (move walls-paint-wire-carpet-new restroom)  $120,000.00

Added new Verison 9-1-1 call system to replace old Ameritech system. $190,000.00

November added  GIS Mapping with the aid of a $54,000.00 grant

December, changed the entire Law Enforcement departments from High Band radios to new 800mhz. radios with the assistance of an $298,000.00 grant from “COPS”

2004    Upgraded the Fire System and placed them on a new “ North Tower” Chuck Barron-owner

2006    Working on MDT’s (Mobile Data Terminals) in car for all agencies.

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