Birmingham Police Considers Sharing Dispatch Services With Beverly Hills

Birmingham may soon be sharing emergency dispatch services with the village of Beverly Hills, a move that could save both communities up to 40 percent of dispatch costs a year.

According to Birmingham City Manager Bob Bruner, both communities need to replace their dispatch equipment at a cost of approximately $100,000 each.

Consolidating the dispatch centers at the would therefore allow Beverly Hills to avoid this cost, Bruner said, and would save each community between 30 percent and 40 percent of its dispatch operating expenses every year.

Beverly Hills spends around $400,000 annually for dispatch while Birmingham spends $600,000 a year.

Beverly Hills leaders advise caution moving forward

The question of consolidating dispatch services first came before the Beverly Hills Council March 6, during which council members and residents advised caution before moving forward with an agreement.

"I believe in efficiency and an economy of operations," Councilman Greg Burry said in a report in the Birmingham Eccentric. "But I will not support the degrading of our services. I say let's move cautiously in this pursuit. I want to see data that supports this."

Consolidating dispatch services could mean a loss of jobs; Birmingham officials have said they would not need to hire more personnel if they picked up Beverly Hills' dispatch services.

Jim Steffes from the Michigan Association of Police — which represents union dispatchers — told the Beverly Hills Council that moving dispatch services could do more harm than good.

"You have people who have been working here 11-12 years," he said. "To save this little bit of money by shifting dispatch to Birmingham, I think you're opening a can of worms."

However Beverly Hills Village Manager Chris Wilson noted that if dispatch funds were freed up, the police department could shift those funds toward possibly hiring more officers.

Consolidating dispatch provides more savings, fewer challenges

According to Bruner, Birmingham's public safety consolidation efforts date back to 2007 when the City Commission directed the then-City Manager Tom Markus to study police and fire consolidation with Bloomfield Township.

The auditing firm Plante & Moran was hired to help both communities explore options for police and fire consolidation, issuing its final report in 2009.

"Given the challenges associated with consolidating entire departments, ensuing discussion focused on consolidating dispatch because it provides the most potential savings with the fewest challenges," Bruner said.

While a plan to consolidate Birmingham's dispatch services with Bloomfield Township fell apart in 2010, Beverly Hills officials entered the consolidation discussion in 2011. Currently, several nearby communities — such as Franklin and Farmington Hills — have dispatch agreements in place.

Bruner said a possible proposal may be presented to the City Commission as early as April 9. Meanwhile, the Birmingham City Commission will hear a report on the matter from Bruner, as well as a presentation from Deputy Police Chief Mark Clemence, at its meeting Monday night.