Excerpts from RBLandmark.com: The Illinois General Assembly has issued a directive to small towns across the state, requiring them to consolidate their emergency police and fire dispatch centers by mid-2017. This has forced municipalities to quickly decide whether to join existing systems or create new ones. By July 1, each town must submit a written plan for how the consolidation will be carried out. In response, Brookfield, North Riverside, and Riverside have come together to form a joint dispatch center. The proposed center, tentatively named WC3, will be located within the North Riverside Police Department and will be overseen by a board of directors. The board will hire an executive director to manage daily operations. Earlier this month, all three villages signed a $25,000 consulting contract with GovHR USA, a firm based in Northbrook, to help implement the consolidation. Representatives from each village—including village managers, police and fire chiefs, and dispatch supervisors—have been meeting weekly with Paul Harlow, a consultant who previously served as village manager and public safety director in Glencoe. Last summer, the General Assembly passed a law requiring towns with populations under 25,000 to consolidate their dispatch services to meet that population threshold. The cost of setting up the new center will be shared equally among the three municipalities. The consolidation involves many complex steps. For instance, the North Riverside dispatch center will need physical upgrades, including adding a third dispatch position and new equipment. Additionally, Brookfield is not on the same radio frequency as the other two communities, and it belongs to a different fire department mutual aid division. Another challenge is the difference in record-keeping software: North Riverside and Brookfield use one system, while Riverside uses another. All dispatchers will also need to be trained in Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD), a higher level of service mandated by the consolidation. While some current dispatchers are EMD-trained, none of the three villages currently offer EMD due to the need for a second dispatcher around the clock. All full-time dispatchers will remain employed, but the future of part-time staff is uncertain. Eventually, dispatchers will transition from being municipal employees to being part of WC3, and a new collective bargaining unit will be formed to represent them, as they are currently in three separate units. Another major change will be that Brookfield and Riverside police departments will no longer have 24-hour front desk coverage. During overnight hours, North Riverside will handle walk-ins, but both Brookfield and Riverside will need to install a phone or video system to allow people entering their buildings to connect with a dispatcher in North Riverside. In June, the three municipalities will sign an intergovernmental agreement to establish the WC3 board, which will include officials already working with the consultant. This marks a significant step toward a more unified and efficient emergency response system in the region. Jiangsu Huayu Electric Co., Ltd , https://www.huayutransformer.com