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Mayors of two Spokane County towns that have their own police forces
have rejected county efforts to collect fees for police dispatch
services. Instead, they offered a compromise.
The mayors, Jim Hill of Medical Lake and Steve Peterson of Liberty
Lake, recently met with county Commissioner John Roskelley; Sheriff
Mark Sterk; and Lorlee Mizell, county 911 director, to discuss dispatch
fees. Also attending was Millwood Mayor Jeanne Batson, even though
her town already pays dispatch fees to the county.
| "The county
has no choice other than to charge for the service, unless there
is some kind of tradeoff. To do otherwise would be a violation
of state law." Phil Harris |
Roskelley says the discussion with the mayors was cordial, but
neither Hill nor Peterson are willing to concede they should pay
the fees requested by the sheriff's office. Instead, they suggest
a compromise which would consider the response their officers make
for the county as payment for the dispatch services.
"Our officers back up the sheriff's officers and always will,"
said Medical Lake Mayor Jim Hill. "But there is a value there."
Hill said there is only one sheriff's deputy patrolling the West
Plains area, causing officers from Medical Lake, Cheney and Airway
Heights to provide backup services for him.
"The only way he (Sheriff Sterk) can cover the West Plains
is by using us," Hill said.
Hill and Peterson suggest the towns with their own police forces
begin keeping an accurate record of all of the calls their officers
make outside their municipalities. At the end of the year, the municipalities
would figure out the costs and provide that to the sheriff's office.
"Then it would be up to the sheriff to use his formula to
find his costs," Hill said.
Hill added he is sure the benefits to the county would far outweigh
the $27,000 per year being charged his community for dispatch services.
Liberty Lake Mayor Steve Peterson agrees with Hill's assessment
of the situation, adding that his police officers have made 62 assists
to the county so far this year, costing the city more than $17,000
in related costs. Peterson said one of his complaints is the county
has not involved the cities in the process.
"We need three things," Peterson said. "First we
need to keep a record of costs for county backup. Second, we need
a sit-down of all the parties to go over the costs of communications.
And, third, it's what ought to be. We need to create an umbrella
organization for county dispatch services."
Peterson said creation of a "SPOCOM" would lower costs
and make the service better.
Commissioner Kate McCaslin said the compromise would be unfair
to other jurisdictions that pay for dispatch services, such as Deer
Park.
"What are you going to say to them,?" she asked. "It's
impossible to track, and the end result would be a loss of funds
to the county."
Hill rejects that claim.
"Those towns are not part of the equation, because they don't
have their own police departments," Hill said. "They contract
with the sheriff for police protection, and dispatch services are
included in the contract."
McCaslin and Sterk, in an open letter to The Spokesman-Review,
defended the dispatch fees, saying that they are not there to make
a profit for the county. They said that the fees are charged according
to a formula that is designed to cover all costs. They also took
pains to separate the 9-1-1 service from the dispatch services,
a point emphasized by Mizell.
While the 9-1-1 service is paid for with a tax on telephone services
and is applied throughout the county, the service is separate from
the fire and police dispatch services, Mizell said.
"If we get a fire call, it is transferred directly to the
fire center because they like to speak directly to the person reporting
the fire," Mizell said. "Life-threatening police calls
are connected to the police dispatcher directly while nonthreatening
reports are entered and then transferred to dispatch."
McCaslin and Sterk said that in the interest of fairness, everyone
should pay their fair shares of the cost of providing dispatch services.
Commissioner Phil Harris took that statement one step further,
saying, "The county has no choice other than to charge for
the service, unless there is some kind of tradeoff. To do otherwise
would be a violation of state law."
Hill said, however, that his city's officers help save the sheriff
money.
"It takes everyone in the cities and the county working collectively
to make law enforcement effective," Hill concluded.
Peterson added, "We all live in this region. The question
is, how do we work together for the benefit of all of our citizens?"
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