The city and county have been discussing the possibility of a joint 911 call center for a decade now.
Fayetteville is rapidly outgrowing its current emergency communications center, located on the second floor of City Hall, and city leaders are looking to build a new, larger center that can be operational by 2028. The current 911 center is also problematic, city officials said, because it is located in between railroads that sometimes carry hazardous materials and the building is vulnerable to flooding issues.
The possibility of consolidating 911 call centers with Cumberland County when the city opens its new building remains an open question, and one that city leaders had hoped to start answering on Thursday when the city council convened.
However, the meeting to discuss a joint city-county emergency communications center ended after a few minutes, as the two county representatives — Freddie Johnson, president of the Cumberland County Fire Chiefs Association, and a Cumberland County emergency services representative — were unable to attend because of an emergency.
The city’s 911 call center is supported with a $34 million bond, approved by voters in a 2022 referendum as part of a $60 million public safety bond package. The city has already selected Schrader Group Architecture to design the center, which will be large enough to accommodate additional dispatch consoles, as well as amenities like training and tactical operations rooms.
The Fayetteville City Council was set to vote on approving an architectural services agreement for the project at its regular meeting on Thursday, but city leaders opted to delay the vote until they could consult with county officials about the possibility of combining the centers. In the absence of the county representatives, the council further discussed the matter during its dinner meeting, held an hour before the regular city council meeting.
Fayetteville’s 911 center currently has 15 consoles, while the county has 11 with space for four more, city staff said. Cumberland County opened a new 911 call center in 2022, but the building would not be able to accommodate the city’s future operations as well, according to Lisa Reid, who runs the city’s 911 call center. Reid said the city should only consider combining 911 centers with the county if the joint operations would provide a higher level of service for residents and improved conditions for first responders.
“Just to get rid of Fayetteville’s 911 center, just to get rid of Cumberland’s 911 Center — that can’t be the reason why we consolidate,” Reid said. “It’s got to be because we care enough to want to make sure we’re providing the best service to our citizens.”
Fire Chief Kevin Dove described a consolidated 911 call center as “the best thing that could happen to our residents.”
Police Chief Kemberle Braden was skeptical about the idea of a joint center. He raised concerns that the county may not be able to match the established service level of the city’s 911 center, as well as its technological capabilities and operational standards. The city’s center has advanced technologies like Automatic Vehicle Locations (AVL) and ShotSpotter, Braden said, that the county’s center does not. AVL is a remote vehicle tracking tool and ShotSpotter is a remote gunshot detection software.
The operational differences between the two centers could cause inconsistencies and service delays, he said. The police chief also raised additional concerns about what entity would have control over the center: the county, the city, or an independent authority appointed to run it.
“Am I going to get that same service level from an outside authority or from a county authority?” Braden said.
Council members also raised concerns over who would have control over a combined 911 call center. They ultimately agreed that an “unbiased, independent model” would be preferable to either the city or county having complete control over the proposed joint center. The model would involve an independent authority or board that oversees the operations, ensuring that all decisions are made objectively and based on data and best practices.
In a consensus motion at Thursday’s dinner meeting, the council unanimously agreed to direct city staff to collaborate with county officials with the goal of developing a plan for a 911 emergency response system, in which an outside authority would oversee the consolidated system. At the regular meeting later in the evening, the council voted to table discussion of the architectural services contract to its next regular meeting on March 24.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.