Dispatcher switch support: Then there was one

Longboat Key Commissioner Irwin Pastor used his commission comments at the end of the Monday’s regular meeting to announce he’s now fully supportive of Town Manager Dave Bullock’s recommendation to transition the town’s current 911 dispatch service to Sarasota County. 

Pastor has spent the last three weeks meeting individually with Police Chief Pete Cumming and Key dispatchers, Fire Chief Paul Dezzi and Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight and Col. Deputy Chief Kurt Hoffman to learn about the transition. 

“I needed the assurances that the level of services were going to be the same if not better than the current services we enjoy from our local police, fire and EMT services,” Pastor said. 

Pastor said he concluded there will be no change in the town’s level of service; new radios and computer equipment will reduce transfer call times; the city of Sarasota and the town will be on the same radio frequency to help with assistance needs; GPS technology will aid Sarasota dispatchers in dispatching officers to exact locations on the Key; the hearing impaired will be able to text 911; the license plate camera recognition system will stay in place; and the Sarasota Public Safety Communication Center is one of only 92 centers that are nationally accredited, and one of only 15 centers that are nationally fire accredited. 

Commissioner Pat Zunz is the only commissioner who remains hesitant about the pending switch, which could occur by the end of the year now that radio tests with Sarasota County have proved to be successful.

— Kurt Schultheis