As Fayetteville and Cumberland County continue their years-long, on-again-off-again discussions on how to merge their two 911 call centers, the county is asking the public for their opinions on the idea.
The deadline to complete the 10-question survey is January 25.
Fayetteville operates a 911 center for police, fire, and medical emergency calls within city limits. Cumberland County has a separate 911 center for calls in unincorporated areas, plus Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Eastover, Godwin, Falcon, Wade, Stedman, and Linden.
If the city and county operations merge, one call center would serve all the communities in the county.
The Fayetteville City Council and Cumberland County Board of Commissioners have tried and failed since 2007 to reach an agreement for a jointly operated single call center. The council and the board of commissioners voted in November to try again. They are expected to meet this month to discuss it further.
Questions on the survey include:
- How important is it to have a “unified” 911 system?
- What confidence do residents have that a merged, shared 911 system “could improve emergency response times and coordination?”
- What concerns do residents have with a joint 911 center, such as cost to taxpayers, longer response times during the transition, and coordination among agencies?
- How satisfied are residents with emergency response services in their area?
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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