Foxborough Selectmen Vote Yes on Regional Dispatch Center

FOXBOROUGH, MA — When it comes to the proposed regional dispatch center, it's three towns down, one to go.

The Foxborough Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday night to take part in the regionalization effort. They join Mansfield and Easton as the three towns that have taken votes to opt-in. Norton voted Thursday to join the regional dispatch center, according to the Sun Chronicle.

According to a fact sheet distributed at a meeting last week in Mansfield, a new center would allow dispatchers to be able to locate and handle 911 calls from cell phones. Currently, they go through the state police before they are transferred to a local dispatcher.

If approved, the center would be run by a director, with a supervisor and four dispatchers per shift. Town officials say the four towns will not spend more than they currently do and could see savings.

"By sharing costs of budget, supplies, staffing, and technology, the towns will see a reduction in each of those areas. Offsetting this cost will also be an increase in an annual supplement by the state," the sheet said.

John Holmes, president of Foxborough's dispatcher union MASS C.O.P Local 440, spoke against the regional dispatch center.

The estimated cost per town is tabbed at $600,000 and does not include any subsidies from the state.

If all the towns vote to back regionalization, the new dispatch center could open when Mansfield police move into their new police station in 2019.

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