The Fox Lake Village Board has unanimously approved entering into an intergovernmental agreement to develop a new consolidated plan for 911 dispatch centers.
The partnership with other municipal and public entities is tasked with putting together a detailed objective to meet emergency dispatch requirements in Lake County.
The intergovernmental agreement is timely in the wake of the July 4 Highland Park mass shooting, which brought law enforcement agencies and medical personnel from multiple jurisdictions statewide to the scene, officials said.
Lake County has more than a dozen public safety answering points that serve agencies with jurisdiction borders, which creates a problem with numerous point-to-point transfers of 911 calls for the appropriate emergency response.
“During a multiagency response, especially at this magnitude, the consolidation will reduce the unnecessary duplication of services and shorter response times to request for service,” said Lindsay Szafran, the village’s 911 manager. “It’s trying to find a way to get the right resources to the right place in the shortest amount of time.”
Lake County public safety entities have been steadily moving toward the consolidation of dispatch services for emergencies since 2018, when a consortium agreement was established and included Fox Lake. Three years later, the computer software and technology were secured.
The Lake County Board authorized building a facility in Libertyville to house a consolidated 911 center, an emergency telephone services board, and a county emergency management agency, which has an expected 2023 completion date.
The next phase is for the agreement’s partners to develop the consolidation plan and put it into effect. In addition to Fox Lake, the updated intergovernmental agreement is set to include Lake County, the Lake County sheriff’s office, CenCom E911, Gurnee, Lake Zurich, Mundelein, Vernon Hills, and Waukegan.
Fox Lake also agreed to a $50,000 contribution toward implementation of the plan.
“One of the main goals is efficiency,” Szafran said. “When it’s consolidated, everything will be under one umbrella. Fox Lake’s FoxComm 911 Center is excited for the opportunity to participate in the development of a cost-efficient plan that will enhance emergency services throughout Lake County.
“When we have a large consolidation,” Szafran continued. “There is strength in numbers … and they are in communication with each other.”
