EVERETT — A decision on whether to merge two 911 centers in Snohomish County is not expected to happen until next year.
The ongoing talks are between SNOPAC in Everett and SNOCOM in Mountlake Terrace. They provide dispatching for nearly every police and fire department in the county. Last year, they answered a combined 808,295 calls to 911.
The merger proposal has drawn unanimous support from police and fire chiefs. The existing system, with multiple 911 centers, dates back to the 1970s, according to Merlin Halverson, the Sultan fire chief. He wrote a letter in favor of the merger on behalf of county fire chiefs.
There is a “universal understanding” that the current system creates dispatching delays, because calls have to be rerouted, Halverson wrote. “Better models are available,” he wrote.
While the merger proposal has outspoken fans, including Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman, the talks have been complicated by decades of local politics. In records from an October SNOCOM board meeting, the agency listed “pressure to consolidate” as a threat to its future.
Meeting minutes from July reference the routing of 911 calls as being split by a “Mason-Dixon line.” That phrase dates back to the 18th-century divisions between the northern U.S. and the south.
Calls to 911 are routed based on geography. In Snohomish County, SNOPAC and SNOCOM have to transfer calls to one another on a daily basis. Those involved in the merger talks have determined the frequency of transfers is unacceptable and needs to be fixed, regardless of the decision on consolidation.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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