Questions continue for dispatchers at Perryville 911 Dispatch Center
PERRYVILLE, Mo. (KBSI) – A joint letter to the community was released from leaders of Perry County and the city of Perryville on Monday, October 23 related to the 911 dispatch services.
“It is a ‘lifetime calling, it is something I’ve always been interested in, and these guys that I work with and for and around are my family,” said Kim Kimmell, a dispatcher with the Perryville Police Dispatch Center.
She says that no one an hour away can do her job better.
“It is important to me that these guys stay safe, and I don’t think anyone can do that better than me and my co-workers,” said Kimmell.
On Monday, October 23, city and county officials explained the proposal for the dispatch center to be outsourced to St. Francis County. Dispatchers were given different options to stay on, or to apply to work in St. Francis County.
“It would not be cost effective to drive one hour one-way for less money,” said Kimmell.
Michele Zahner is a detective with the Perryville Police Department. She says there are still options that have not been explored yet.
“There are…our issue is we feel that this is not our only option,” said Zahner. “As the citizens and the community grow, we have to grow, we’re doing this backwards and I really feel there are other options out there.”
County Commissioner Mike Sauer says the proposal for outsourcing is simply just that, a proposal.
“We have done our due diligence to save cost for taxpayers, and in doing that we discovered that we could save a significant amount of money if we outsourced 911 dispatch,” he said.
Sauer says the original idea was to have the sheriff, police, dispatch, jail, prosecuting attorney, courtrooms and coroner together in one building, which he says is still the plan.
“Up until recently that has been our plan all along,” he said. “When we discovered a cost savings by outsourcing dispatch we started looking at, we can save some money, in our regular budget, if we went that way.”
Related story: City and County leaders discussing outsourcing Perryville dispatch 911 center
