Fenton Police Department Shows More Than $253K in Dispatch Improvements

The Fenton Police Department showed off its and renovations to the dispatch center, at an open house on Monday evening.

Dispatcher Sue Walsh said the building was once a tire store. It opened as a dispatch and police building in the 1970s and was remodeled in 2001. This year's equipment upgrade (funded by the ) included two desks that lift and lower electrically, so dispatchers can stand or sit to work. The computer screens monitor where ambulances are located, where police officers are located and what calls they are out on, a map of the city and a screen where dispatchers can enter data into the computer and send it to a police officer in a car.

Chief of Police Rick Aro said the new dispatch equipment went online April 8. In addition to its many new capabilities, the equipment will allow the dispatch center to update to the next generation of 911, as Michigan implements it, he said.

The came within budget, with a little more than anticipated due to a few furniture items and construction issues that weren't planned on, Aro said. And the dispatch work area has been enlarged, 6 feet toward the front door.

"It's a lot better," said dispatcher Marj Rich, of the