Brewer Leads Senate in Passing Bill to form Regional 911 Centers

(Boston) – Senator Stephen M. Brewer (D-Barre) announced today that the Senate has passed a bill that creates a streamlined process for cities and towns to form regional 911 emergency communication centers.

“Regionalization of services is beneficial to many of the smaller towns that make up this Commonwealth, many that are in my district,” said Brewer.  “This bill will encourage communities to come together to provide essential emergency dispatch services while preserving fiscal resources.”

Currently, the Commonwealth has 260 “public safety answering points”, a large amount compared to the similarly sized Maryland, which has just 25.

The guidelines outlined in this bill will be combined with grants available through the State 911 Department to encourage regionalization of emergency services.  Additionally, the bill removes the need for special legislation that was previously required for communities that wanted to regionalize.

Furthermore, the bill outlines a process where two or more communities will create a regional 911 planning committee to review the merits of establishing a regional 911 emergency communication center, propose a governance structure, and estimate costs to ensure that that the district will benefit from regionalization.

Additionally, the bill ensures fiscal oversight of these centers by requiring regular audits be provided to cities and towns, the State Auditor, the State 911 Department, and the Division of Local Services.

The bill now goes before the House of Representatives.

Posted: Fri, May 11, 2012
Updated Fri, May 11, 2012