MACC board to respond to Deputy Sheriff's Association

By Brad W. Gary

Herald staff writer

MOSES LAKE - The board of directors of Grant County's emergency dispatch system aren't saying much about the concerns recently raised about the system by county law enforcement officers. But they plan to respond publicly at the start of 2005.

The Multi Agency Communications Center Board and MACC Director Mary Allen received a vote of "no confidence," from the Grant County Deputy Sheriff's Association earlier this month. The Deputy Sheriff's Association cited concerns with poor radio coverage and officer safety.

The MACC center is made up of civilian dispatchers who handle emergency calls for medical, fire and law enforcement groups in Grant County.

According to MACC board members, the board plans on responding at their regular board meeting on Jan. 6 to a five-page letter in which the Deputy Sheriff's Association proposed that the MACC board voluntarily give control of the dispatch center to the GCSO. The Deputy Sheriff's Association said they wanted to take control of the center in order to restore proper procedures at the center.

About two dozen Deputy Sheriff's Association members showed up to the MACC board meeting Dec. 9 to deliver the letter. In addition to concerns of officer safety and radio equipment at MACC; the Deputy Sheriff's Association also cited problems with staffing, training and morale at the dispatch center.

Grant County Sheriff Frank De Trolio is chairman of the MACC board, and he said the board won't make any decisions on MACC equipment until after they hear a report on that equipment from independent agency ADCOM. The independent agency recently completed a survey of the dispatch system and will present the second half of its report to the board at the Jan. 6 meeting.

De Trolio added that even after the board finds out what's wrong with the dispatch system, they still have to determine where the money for changes is going to come from.

The Deputy Sheriff's Association raised a few concerns regarding personnel at their meeting with the MACC board Dec. 9. De Trolio said that personnel concerns have been turned over to the MACC board's personnel committee, and will be discussed during an executive session of that committee Jan. 3.

The MACC board discussed some items of the concerns of the Deputy Sheriff's Association during a meeting Thursday, De Trolio said.

"We haven't take any official action, but we discussed some steps that we're going to start working on," De Trolio said.