Hinsdale Considers Switching Dispatch Centers Amid Response Time Concerns
HINSDALE, Mass. — The town has experienced longer emergency response times since the Dalton Police Department suspended its mutual aid agreement with Hinsdale. Now, Hinsdale is considering suspending its use of Dalton's Communication Center.
During the Hinsdale Select Board meeting on Aug. 12, board member Margaret Gregory raised concerns about the department's response times, recounting an incident the previous Sunday when she called police at about 9:51 p.m. but did not see a state trooper arrive until approximately 10:45 p.m.
"We're here to protect the town and make sure we're getting the aid that we need. That did not happen," she said in a follow-up with the media.
Now word has gotten to Dalton that Hinsdale's department has requested to withdraw from the Dalton Communication Center and use the Berkshire Regional Emergency Communications Center instead.
Dalton Town Manager Eric Anderson informed Dalton's Select Board that he heard indirectly from the state's communications center of Hinsdale's request and that there will be a meeting with the E911 system and all parties sometime later in September.
In order for Hinsdale to switch to the state call center, the town would have to obtain funding to ensure the town's equipment works with the state's.
During Hinsdale's August meeting, Gregory told Peru Police Chief Bruce Cullett that she is concerned with how Dalton's dispatch is relaying information to the state, citing that calls from multiple people about shots fired shouldn't be an hour wait.
"I was thinking to myself, why didn't they just pick up the phone and call the chief in Peru? You would have gotten there quicker had they just done that," she said.
"So I'm a little taken back by how they determine what their call system is. They're clearly looking at these calls, and they're determining, ‘well, that's not that important, so we'll wait.' That's not a wait call. To me, that is not a call that should be an hour wait."
Cullett has been serving as Hinsdale's chief during Police Chief Shawn Boyne's absence. With the news of Boyne's intention to retire, Cullett will continue in that role.
The town currently has a contract with Peru for the chief, with the agreement running through November 2027.
During the Hinsdale board meeting another incident that happened over a weekend was raised, where it was said a motor vehicle accident occurred and went unreported to State Police because a Dalton dispatcher failed to log six separate calls about the crash, Cullett said.
"That dispatcher was disciplined once we found out and alerted the director of communications from Dalton. That dispatcher received a week-long suspension and a six-month probation period," he said.
Dalton's dispatch is "typically very good at relaying the details, so I can look into that case specifically," Cullett said, then explained how call priority depends on the details relayed.
Cullett said local police were not apprised of a shots-fired incident so did not know how the State Police prioritized that specific report.
He also mentioned that departments get numerous shots-fired calls in rural communities because of hunting.
"If they were aware of the call, it really depends on the circumstances that were relayed on to [the State Police.] That's how they develop if it's a priority call or not."
Dalton's dispatch is instructed to relay a call to State Police and at that point they are no longer involved in the call, Cullett said, and added that he is not sure why Dalton dispatch wouldn't call neighboring agencies in that type of situation.
In Dalton, Anderson told his board that he requested a meeting with Hinsdale to discuss the issues and determine the town's priorities.
It is not the dispatch center's responsibility to arrange support in advance; rather, its role is to follow Hinsdale's established protocol for who should be notified during an incident, he said.
If Hinsdale wants changes to how calls are handled or which agencies are notified during an incident, the center is willing to accommodate those requests, Anderson said.
During the Dalton Select Board meeting, he also echoed Cullett's explanation on how calls are prioritized and highlighted the Hinsdale's department's lack of staff.
Once the State Police receives a call from Dalton dispatch it is added to their queue but the problem is the state barracks only has two officers covering 16 towns in this portion of the Berkshires, so there is no guarantee that there is rapid coverage, Anderson said.
The State Police use to notify Dalton when Hinsdale is going to have a slow response because for the last couple of years Hinsdale has not been able to fulfill a lot of its weekend or overnight shifts, he said.
"The State Police is their backup, and Dalton has been backing up the State Police when they can't respond to the call. So, we've basically been acting as their adjunct police department for several years," Anderson said.
That was until Dalton suspended its mutual aid agreement to Hinsdale because of "ongoing concerns" that have "raised serious issues regarding operational trust, accountability, and officer safety," a result a Hinsdale incident involving both departments earlier this year in which a civilian was killed.
Following the town's suspension of mutual aid, the State Police provided overtime coverage to Hinsdale, an agreement that was only supposed to last two to three weeks, Anderson said.
However, it went on for two to three months before the State Police said they could not do it anymore because they do not have the overtime budget for it either.
"I think we should also discuss under what conditions the town of Dalton resumes routine mutual aid with Hinsdale," Anderson said.
"I mean, we've said all along, and their chief is well aware of this, that we will respond if there's any significant issue there where life safety of a resident or life safety of a police officer is in jeopardy, but we're just not covering the routine issues that we've been covering for Hinsdale."
Anderson said he reached out to Hinsdale's Town Administrator Robert Graves and was told he will get back to him.
Tags: Dalton Police, dispatchers, police,
