Germantown prides itself on being a safe community with fast emergency response times, and it starts with dispatchers working on the bottom floor of City Hall.
But Shelby County is providing funds for a new 911 call center building for the suburb, proposed north of the area between City Hall and the building housing Germantown’s economic and community development offices.
“It’s long overdue,” said Germantown Police Inspector Don Taylor, who has been with Germantown 33 years.
Germantown’s initial emergency call center was implemented in 1979 with about 400 square feet. Over the years, the public safety answering point (PSAP) expanded to about 1,500 square feet in the basement of City Hall. Necessary expansions led to knocking down walls, and the new building will result in about a 9,000-square-foot space.
During one recent mid-January week, police received 429 calls and fire received 105 with 24 dispatchers handling those calls, according to Germantown Police Capt. Sciara Childress. The number of dispatchers has increased over the years as the city grew.
In some agencies, call-takers are separate from dispatchers. Germantown has no separation. Plus, in the suburb, dispatchers also are jailers, which is uncommon in the police departments.
“We’re responsible for the inmates,” Taylor said. “We have to feed them, phone calls, we process them in and out of the jail.”
One hope for the new space is to separate jailer responsibilities from the dispatchers, Taylor said.
The opportunity for the new center presented itself in July 2020 with proposed funding from the Shelby County 911 board. At that time, the pandemic forced everyone to think about work differently with an emphasis on social distancing.
There is a backup PSAP at Fire Station No. 4 on Forest Hill-Irene, just south of Poplar. Even now, that is used to continue social distancing, Taylor said.
Three shifts of dispatchers work 10 hours each, so there is overlap in shifts. If too many people are present at the City Hall location, about half go to the fire station. Despite where dispatchers are located, they can communicate via video live stream. A large screen in the call center at City Hall shows the call room in Fire Station No. 4.
The new building will be built to withstand earthquakes and tornadic activity. Fire Station No. 4’s room will remain a backup call center.
The building must go through the various city reviews, but the dispatchers are getting some input on what goes in the building.
The building will be built in a current parking lot, but once it is complete, there will be added parking at City Hall and secure gated parking for emergency vehicles. The pond — south of Municipal Park’s lake — will be filled in to accommodate the parking. The new building will not affect the Municipal Park lake.
A portion of the north side of City Hall will still be accessible to the public. Some people drive to the police station to file a police report in person. The water bill drop box in the back parking lot may be relocated to an accessible spot.
The new center will provide more room and be configured to handle updated equipment, which is larger. Dispatchers will also have larger monitors. A training room is also part of plans.
When Shelby Country received unusual snowfall amounts in February 2021, it was difficult for some dispatchers to get to and from work, so they stayed in a Germantown hotel. The new building will provide cots and sleeping space in the event weather keeps dispatchers on-site as the 911 center must operate around the clock daily.
“The kitchen is going to be well-equipped,” Childress said. “With so many people, they’ll have enough space. If they have to be here for another snowstorm, we will have accommodations.”
A lactating room will also be in the building. Tennessee law requires employers to accommodate breastfeeding mothers at work.
The design of the new building is not finalized, but as city leaders plan and make preparations, they are not just looking at needs now.
“We looked into the future, in the event that they decided ‘hey we want to hire four or five more (dispatchers),’ we will have the room to accommodate,” Childress said.
“Everything we are doing is for their comfort, but it’s to better serve the public. … I think we’ve hired the right people,” Taylor added. “Now we’re just trying to get better equipment. With the right people and better equipment we could do a better job.”
The facility is expected to cost $12 million and will be funded by county dollars. The Shelby County 911 board approved the feasibility study although the final contract still must be approved. The building must also go through appropriate reviews at the city level before construction, which Taylor hopes begins in the next year.
Elimination of the existing dispatch center will free up some space in City Hall. Reynold Douglas, general services director for the city, said the current dispatching space will likely become offices for the Germantown Police Department.
“Due to the growth of Police Services over the years, office space availability is not as accommodating as it needs to be,” Douglas said.
In recent years some questioned if City Hall may relocate. The question arose specifically when the city mulled pursuing the Germantown Country Club site as a park two years ago. However, the current location is where the many city operations will remain.
“We’re not aware of anything that would entice us to not be located at this location,” City Administrator Jason Huisman said, noting there are a number of capital needs that are priorities.
He added the current spot northeast of Farmington Boulevard and Germantown Road is attractive, and there are “no immediate plans for the city to relocate our municipal city hall services.”