The faces behind 911: Madison County Sheriff’s Office unveils new dispatch center
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REXBURG — The dispatchers working behind the scenes in an emergency are among the most important individuals assisting police, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and EMTs on the front lines.
“We’ve had some officer-involved shootings recently,” Madison County Sheriff Ron Ball said. “The radio traffic that is going on during an event like that — there’s a lot — and we depend on these guys.”
In Madison County, dispatchers are now armed with the latest, cutting-edge technology and equipment following a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for the region’s second-largest dispatch center located in Rexburg.
“Any 911 call, any emergency, any time you can hear sirens — it’s all coming through our center,” said Cullin Sherman, Madison County Sheriff’s Office information technology director. “We manage everything within (Madison) County.”
Deputies, elected officials, representatives of other law enforcement agencies and business leaders gathered at the center for a celebration and tour to learn more about dispatch’s enhanced capabilities.
“We’re going from a center with 400 square feet and three consoles to almost 1600 square feet with five consoles,” Sherman said.
The new dispatch is located inside a leased, refurbished building southwest of the Madison County Courthouse.
According to Ball, the quarters are a major upgrade from the former dispatch office tucked inside the sheriff’s office.
“It’s a small room (in the previous office). Sometimes you have four people in there — almost sitting back-to-back,” Ball said. “It gets tight when you’re pulling 12-hour shifts and handling the team that comes in. It can get pretty complicated and quite aggravating sometimes.”
Additionally, the new facility includes room to expand in the future with space for one or two additional consoles if necessary.
Sherman served as the mastermind behind the entire project. With approximately 20 years working in dispatch and several years managing information technology, he was intimately acquainted with the necessary upgrades and programs required to better serve the community.
Each console consists of 14 screens operating a variety of programs. Every station has four computers. The dispatchers are trained to sift through the data and respond immediately.
In 2022, the center handled 45,696 events, including 8,462 calls to 911. That averages to 125 calls per day and 23 calls to 911.
“Then they’re also responsible for all of the officers, the firefighters and the paramedics. They keep track of all of that, and all of the calls. They do an amazing job,” Sherman said, choking up for a minute. “They all care very much about the safety of the citizens and the responders for our county.”
The dispatch center serves the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Rexburg Police Department and the Madison Fire Department in tandem.
With the expansion, the center now employs 14 full-time dispatchers.
Technology at the dispatch center has evolved rapidly in the last 10 years.
“We went from having one little terminal for our National Crime Information Center (NCIC), our driver’s license and wanted person database; to now we have four PCs at each console, running multiple networks … 20 programs at a time, just so we can access the different sources here,” Sherman said.
The oldest piece of equipment in the dispatch center is the 911 line, which is also one of its most effective tools. A Computer Aided Dispatch program monitors all incoming calls, four mapping tools assist dispatchers, RapidSOS helps pinpoint the location of the call, and Prepared Live allows dispatchers to text and receive messages and photos from anyone. They can also receive live video feeds.
When an emergency occurs, callers are encouraged to dial 911 directly.
“All the data is starting to flow. Everything’s starting to integrate better, and that just helps with the coordinating process,” Sherman said.
Today, 10 counties are hosted on a regional 911 system, centered in Bonneville County.
“We were kind of the first region to push out the concept of collaboration without consolidation to be able to share resources, share costs and bring product costs down,” Sherman said. “… We can now dispatch from other agencies if we need to for some situation.”
The renovated dispatch center cost just under $500,000, Sherman said, and contains built-in emergency backup systems — including a natural gas generator and one-hour battery backup.
“Our dispatchers now are all very excited to work here. We hope that it’ll enhance our ability to serve the public,” Ball said.
