92 Ohltown Road Austintown, OH 44515	Phone 330-799-9721	Fax 330-799-8651

Communications Division

The Simulcast Austintown Boardman Radio System is now on-line. January 30, 2013 A Motorola P25 digital 800 MHz trunking system was turned on today and will serve both Townships public safety communications needs for many years to come. The old radio systems in both Townships were unreliable, antiquated, beyond repair and by FCC mandate had to be replaced. The cost of this new system was shared between both Townships thus effectively providing each Township with the capabilities of a $1.6 million dollar radio system for half the cost. Please check back later for updates to this page and photos of the new system.

Primary Dispatch Console

The Communications division of Austintown Township currently employs 7 full-time dispatchers. At any particular time there may be one or two Dispatchers on duty to simultaneously handle all the duties shown here:

1. Answering emergency and non-emergency phone calls. These calls can come in on any of 22 phone lines (four 911 and eighteen 10-digit  lines). Since 2003 the four 911 lines alone generated an average of 18,000 phone calls per year. The other lines about 37,000 calls for a total of approximately 55,000 phone calls received per year.
2. Answer routine questions from the public relating to the Police and Fire Departments as well as completely unrelated questions because people simply didn't know who else to call.
3. Prioritizing and relaying necessary information to Police, Fire and EMS personnel via phone and/or radio.
4. Monitor and respond to any of 7 radio channels.
5. Enter calls for service into a CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system and retrieve information previously entered into the system.
6. Input and retrieve data into the statewide LEADS (Law Enforcement Automated Data System) and the nationwide NCIC (National Crime Information Center) computer systems. The Dispatchers can inquire into law enforcement systems in other countries including Canada and Mexico as well as access to Interpol (the worlds largest international police organization) data.
7. Greeting and assisting people that walk into the police station.
8. Deputy Clerk of Court functions such as taking bonds and committing people to jail.
9. Monitor 16 video cameras inside and outside the Police station.With experience ranging from 2 to 24 years of experience our Dispatchers have handled just about anything you could imagine and probably some things you would not want to imagine; but that is part of the appeal of Dispatching as a career. The job remains interesting even after many years because you never know what the next call will bring.

Click here to see some closer views of the Dispatch Equipment
(This may take a little time to load due to the larger images)

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