Communications Division

Primary Dispatch Console

The Communications division of Austintown Township currently employs 6 full-time and 2 part-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. The other lines about 30,000  calls for a total of approximately 48,000 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 7 to 34 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.

The main communications backbone, placed into service in 1988, for the Township including Police, Fire, Road and Maintenance Departments is a Motorola 800 MHz trunked radio system consisting of 5 repeaters located at the tower site on Barrington Drive, two console positions in the Dispatch center and base stations located at the Fire, Road and Maintenance Departments. Our radios are capable of transmitting, on average, a signal that reaches out about 60 miles. We are the only government entity in Mahoning County making use of the advanced capabilities of a trunked radio system.

Click here to see some closer views of the Dispatch Equipment

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