Lemoore's dream of new police dispatch center one more step toward fruition

Salas was joined in a crowded Lemoore department’s conference room by the police chiefs from Avenal, Corcoran, and Lemoore to unveil, for the first time, the conceptual designs and blueprints for the proposed public safety infrastructure improvements and projects planned around the County.

The 2015-2016 California State budget included $5 million for Kings County cities that will enable law enforcement agencies to better serve the public, said Salas.

Left to right: Councilmember Eddie Neal, Chief Darrel Smith, Assemblymember Rudy Salas, Councilmember Ray Madrigal and City Manager Andi Welsh pose with a $5 million check presented to the cities of Avenal, Corcoran and Lemoore.

“This will have a tremendous effect on Kings County and its residents,” said a confident Assemblyman Salas after the presentation. “When you look at the emergency operations center or the dispatch center … this means that police will be able to respond to calls a lot quicker, and they’ll be able to handle emergencies. They’ll be able to handle all the public safety needs we have in Kings County. This will be a tremendous benefit for our community.”

Lemoore’s vision of a modern dispatch center has been on the books for a long time and the infusion of about $1 million dollars from the state more than secured the funding the city needs to complete the project.

Lemoore Chief of Police Darrel Smith was all smiles as he talked about Lemoore’s project. “It was a long enduring process,” said Smith following the presentation Tuesday afternoon. “But as you can see it paid off at the end and as it was said many times today, it was a team effort. This approach was the reason we were so successful in accomplishing our goals in getting the funding for our infrastructure projects.”

In addition to Salas, Avenal Chief Rusty Stivers and Corcoran Chief Rueben Shortnacy were also on hand to talk about their public safety projects. The project plans, in addition to Lemoore’s dispatch center, included expansion and upgrade of the current police facility in Avenal, and construction of a new police station in Corcoran.

Local public safety facilities have struggled to adequately support recidivism programs. This budget funding will help provide the proper resources to address these deficiencies and keep communities safe, said Salas in brief remarks.

“The need for public safety infrastructure improvements in Corcoran has been a priority for many years,” said Reuben Shortnacy, Corcoran’s police chief.

Lemoore may not settle for just a Lemoore dispatch center. A feasibility study is currently being undertaken looking into the possibility of a regional dispatch center, which might be headquartered in Lemoore.

 “Right now we’re actually conducting a feasibility study and we’re evaluating all the calls for service for the entities within the county,” said Lemoore’s Smith.  “We’ll come back to provide a … formula for the entities that wish to participate in a regional approach, and from my end I’m actually working with our architect to determine that if we build our site double in size what would the cost be to move forward.”

Back in 2013, the Lemoore City Council gave the go-ahead to seek funding and building a dispatch center in Lemoore. At the time, Cmdr. Steve Rossi told councilmembers a new dispatch center, to be constructed on the west side of the existing police department, could cost upwards of $1.2 million, most of the funding coming from safety grants and fire and police capital funds.

There was added sticker shock added to the cost. Councilmembers learned that just blueprints could cost the city about $120,000.

The City of Lemoore currently pays the City of Hanford $400,000 a year for dispatch services.

Part of the overall cost of a new dispatch center includes the hiring of at least 10 dispatchers enabling the police department to man the operations center 24 hours a day.

In May of 2014 in an update to councilmembers, they were told the cost of a dispatch center would go up, possibly to $1.9 million, money that would build a stand-alone facility and provide the equipment and staff to man the dispatch center 24 hours per day.

Smith also dropped a bombshell on councilmembers when he revealed the ongoing costs for running the center, including the costs of at least 10 dispatchers and training, would add approximately $606,000 annually to the cost of the public safety budget. This project also addresses some needed site improvements to safety, security and access. The installation of automatic vehicle security gates, a radio communication tower and replacement of the existing army surplus emergency power generator with a new emergency generator with an automatic transfer switch would be included. The existing electrical infrastructure, transformer and existing switchgear will be utilized as much as possible to minimize costs.