Rotterdam’s police, fire and emergency medical services dispatchers are finally moving into the countywide dispatch center on Hamburg Street.
Town police said eight full-time and two-part time dispatchers were scheduled to move today into the Unified Communication Center, a consolidation of the county’s various dispatch operations.
Dispatchers from Glenville, Niskayuna and Schenectady started moving into the center in May, when it opened, but Rotterdam’s move was delayed as software companies worked to convert the town’s dispatch data from one type of computer-aided dispatch system to another. The data is now converted and dispatchers are ready to move, Deputy Chief Bill Manikas said.
The move into the center is projected to save the town $176,657 annually.
“It’s been a very arduous ordeal to get this accomplished,” he said. “There is a significant loss of service here, but obviously there’s a cost savings, and in this day and age, unfortunately, financial aspects are very important.”
All town dispatch functions that had been run out of the Police Department will transition to the dispatch center starting at 7 this morning, he said.
Rotterdam residents should continue to call 911 for all emergencies. For non-emergency police and animal control assistance, residents should call 630-0911. To reach individual divisions within the departments, residents should call 355-7331.
Records can be accessed at the Police Department, 101 Princetown Road, weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The Town Board honored the dispatchers for more than 200 years of combined service at its Dec. 10 meeting. The dispatchers will continue to serve the town, but as county employees.
“Their training, experience and compassion has served us well and has directly resulted in saving many lives,” Manikas said.
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Categories: Schenectady County
