Here’s the 411 on Bethlehem’s 911 services

Bethlehem and Northampton County have completed the consolidation of their 911 services well before the state-mandated deadline at the end of the month, officials announced Monday.Dispatch operators at the county’s 911 center in Upper Nazareth Township have been fielding Bethlehem’s emergency calls since March 26, The service was quietly transferred so officials could work out any glitches.Under the switch, people who need emergency services in Bethlehem still call the same number — 911 — but the calls are routed to Northampton County operators instead of the city operators.“The Northampton County 911 Center now handles phones, radio consoles and computer assisted dispatch for the entire county,” County Executive Lamont McClure said in a joint news conference with Mayor Robert Donchez at the county’s 911 center. “Bethlehem residents can continue to dial 911 and the appropriate first responders will be sent. Our residents can be assured there has been no change in the level of service.”Pennsylvania gave municipalities until July 1 before it pulls funding for city-run 911 operations, an effort aimed at regionalizing emergency dispatch services.The state subsidizes 911 centers with surcharges on telephone bills. When the mandate was made four years ago in a bill that raised surcharges, Bethlehem and Allentown were the only two cities in the state that ran their own 911 centers. Allentown is transferring its dispatch services to Lehigh County.Allentown spokesman Mike Moore said Monday he could not release a consolidation date for Allentown and Lehigh County until the operation has been completed “for security purposes.”In Bethlehem’s consolidation, the city will maintain a smaller dispatch staff to monitor a network of about 160 security cameras in the Bethlehem and handle internal communications for city crews for issues such as snow removal. Donchez has said he expects to announce in the coming weeks a Bethlehem Service Center app as well.Bethlehem projects it will spend about $750,000 on that internal communications operation. By comparison, city taxpayers had routinely subsidized its 911 operations to the tune of $1.5 million because state fees weren’t enough to cover its operation.This year Bethlehem sold Northampton County its 911 communications system and software for nearly $1.4 million, which covers the debt payments left on the equipment. The deal includes the transfer of Bethlehem’s FCC license.The county is also ramping up its 911 staff from 44 operators to 64.The transfer of operations to Northampton County has been a complicated process the cities and counties have been working out since the state passed a law nearly four years ago that put a sunset provision on the funding for the city-run systems.The local agencies had considered running a regional Lehigh Valley operation but ultimately panned the idea in favor of Bethlehem’s 911 coverage going to Northampton County’s 911 Center and Allentown to Lehigh County’s.Morning Call reporter Nicole Radzievich can be reached at 610-778-2253 or at nmertz@mcall.com
Source: Morningcall