Police chief makes his point

Following an effective and thought-provoking presentation regarding concerns about dispatch services in Winsted, police Chief Nicholas Guerriero was met with a round of applause from community members at Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, but that didn’t stop some from throwing barbs at the chief.

Guerriero spent about a half-hour detailing the responsibilities of local dispatchers and explaining why a contract with Litchfield County Dispatch (LCD) for a remote dispatch service would be detrimental to the community. The most obvious and compelling fact is that Winsted residents would no longer have a 24-hour dispatch center in town. A live dispatcher would be replaced by a telephone connected to LCD headquarters.

Dispatchers watch what’s going on, both inside and outside the station, via remote video cameras and a large window into the police lobby. While answering and assigning calls, they stand by to greet members of the public. They also help monitor prisoners in Wins- ted’s jail cells.

In the past 10 years, at least five people have had heart attacks in the lobby at police headquarters. Instead of being witnessed by a dispatcher who in turn would summon help, the next victim might be expected to get on the horn and call LCD, which will in turn call Winsted for help. That sounds ridiculous.

If Guerriero’s presentation was designed to raise questions, it certainly was a success. Community members have to wonder how much control they want to give up in order to achieve a small monetary savings. The chief noted that a number of expenses have not been factored into LCD’s proposed bill, so the projected savings is flawed from the start.

Predictably, Selectman Jeff Liskin was the most critical of the chief and others who question the LCD proposal. That’s because Liskin has been meeting privately with LCD representatives, who are his personal friends, to develop the proposal. Liskin mocked Guerriero’s proposal Monday night, smirking and saying sarcastically that Guerriero’s dispatchers must be “superhuman� to be able to accomplish the work they do.

Instead of drawing his weapon in self-defense or shoving a doughnut into Liskin’s mouth (two imaginable responses that immediately come to mind), Guerriero invited the selectman to visit police headquarters to observe what dispatchers do in an ordinary work day.

“You’re welcome any time. I’d love to have you come in,� the chief calmly said. “I think you should sit down and actually watch what they do accomplish in an eight-hour period.�

Score another point for the chief.

Winsted’s dispatch service should remain under local control.