MIDDLETOWN – The police and fire departments in the City of Middletown
each dispatch manpower to emergency calls, but as a cost-saving measure, Mayor Joseph DeStefano wants to merger the call centers.
In addition to saving money, it would free up paid members to respond to calls.
“We are discussing with the union, and we negotiated this with the CSEA to merge dispatching services with the police department – everything is done on the CAD system now, it’s all on computer,” he said. “That would be the equivalent of hiring four or five fire department personnel, because that frees the person that’s sitting on the desk answering the phone and puts them on the fire truck.”
The mayor and the city’s board of estimate are looking at ways to reduce the 2027 budget that is expected to exceed the two percent tax cap for the first in 15 years.
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