Love County is looking to follow Marshall County’s lead and install an Enhanced 911 system.
The Board of County Commissioners called for an election on Dec. 8, where Love County citizens can vote to approve or disapprove a 15 percent per month fee for each land line connection, and a 50-cent per month fee for cellular phone lines. The money collected through the fees will go to finance the upgrade to the new E911 system.
Love County Emergency Management Director Tracey Smithwick said the money raised from fees would only be initial funding, after which the county would be eligible for state and federal grants to help pay for the modernization.
“We’re going to do it mostly through grants,” Smithwick said.
Charles Campbell, chief of the Criner Hills Volunteer Fire Department, dealt with a recent fire call routed to Oklahoma City because of the outdated 911 system. The address given was almost identical to an address in the city, and emergency responders were dispatched to the wrong house.
“It delayed us about 10 minutes from the fire,” Campbell said.
Smithwick and Campbell agree that passing the propositions on Dec. 8 is better than the alternative: if the county does not upgrade by 2012, the state will force the county to upgrade, likely forcing it into a regional system.
“If the state took over, the dispatcher could be in Carter County or somewhere else,” Campbell said. “We’re trying to keep it local.”
Smithwick said the current system relies heavily on the caller’s ability to give directions, which are often unreliable or unintelligible. Many conventional 911 systems are also unable to correctly route calls from cell phones. The new system is able to plot a caller’s location on a map, helping dispatchers get help to the caller sooner.
Smithwick said town hall meetings will be held as the election date gets closer, so Love County residents can ask questions and relay their concerns to county officials. He hopes that those not yet in support of the new system will change their minds.
“Wouldn’t you rather have your public safety people get to you quickly after you call 911,
compared to the way we have to do it now, where it takes 10 to 15 minutes to look you up?”
Phil Banker 221-6542
