Options Still Open for Shared Dispatch

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The Borough of Emerson recently entered the continuing talks for shared dispatching services, according to Washington Township Mayor Janet Sobkowicz.

Sobkowicz said she met with officials from Emerson to discuss the possibility of the borough hosting the township's emergency calls in their civilian dispatch center. Currently, Washington Township's dispatching is performed by a mix of police officers and civilian dispatchers in police headquarters.

At their meeting this week, township councilmen also discussed a proposal from Westwood to share dispatching based in Westwood. A test in March found that Westwood could handle emergency calls from both towns. Council President Richard Hrbek said they needed to formally respond to the proposal, which they received in April.

Officials have also considered opening a new, independent dispatching facility with River Vale and Old Tappan. Hrbek noted they needed to know more about the capital costs of opening a center.

Councilman Fred Goetz said he did not believe opening an independent center would make sense financially because he did not believe River Vale and Old Tappan, which already share dispatching, were still interested.

"I don't think we need to pursue it further," Goetz said.

Westwood Councilman Robert Miller told Patch Wednesday that he had heard as recently as Tuesday night that police from River Vale and Old Tappan were still "strongly in favor of continuing the four-town discussion."

"There's no decisive position right now," Miller said. "Everything's still on the table."

Goetz, Washington Township Council Vice President Joseph D'Urso and Councilman Steve Cascio said they were still in favor of using Bergen County's dispatch in Mahwah, though emergency officials have said they and Sobkowicz said when the council voted 3-2 in May to pursue an agreement with the county.

Councilman Glenn Beckmeyer said he would prefer to keep dispatching in the township, but to use more civilians instead of more expensive police officers for the position. If dispatching is performed out of the township, officials said police headquarters may be closed at night.

Closing police headquarters is also a concern of residents in Hillsdale, where officials are investigating using county dispatching or using the Northwest Bergen dispatch service in Ridgewood.

Hillsdale residents recently for a petition to put a question on the November ballot about keeping their police headquarters open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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