Background: As required by the State, the Village of Kenilworth is merging its 911 Dispatch Services with the Villages of Glencoe, Northfield and Winnetka. Police services are not being considered for change and residents are not anticipated to notice much of a difference. The consolidation will result in a reduction in hours the front desk is staffed and where 911 calls are answered. The four communities will be utilizing the Village of Glenview’s Consolidated Dispatch Center but calls will still be personally answered for each Village.

1. Will Kenilworth Police Officers still respond to my home and patrol our streets 24-hours per day after dispatch services are consolidated?  Yes.  Nothing will change with regard to police patrol or response.  If a citizen requests a police response in the Village of Kenilworth, a Kenilworth Police Officer will respond as they currently do. 

2. If I call, will the consolidated dispatching center slow down the response rates for police and fire? No. Calls will be routed the same way they are today.

3. Who will answer the 24-7 non-emergency phone calls to the existing Kenilworth Dispatch Center (847-251-2141)? Kenilworth Police Department administrative personnel will answer the administrative phones and be available for walk in guests at the police front desk Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  All other hours, the administrative phone calls will automatically forward to the consolidated dispatch center.

4. Who will assist me at the Police front counter outside the business hours of Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.?  After standard hours, a trained dispatcher will have video and audio coverage of our lobby.    The dispatcher will have the ability to send a Kenilworth officer to the lobby, or provide other assistance through the service kiosk. 

5. Would the front door to the Village Hall be locked when the television monitor service is operating? If so, what if I feel threatened and would like to enter the building? The Village Hall Lobby will remain un-locked. If the visitor is experiencing an emergency or immediate threat, they will be able to activate a door locking mechanism to provide safety and speak with a dispatcher on the monitor who will dispatch a Kenilworth Police Officer.  The dispatcher will be able to observe the lobby via video feed.

 6. How will the Fire Department dispatching be affected by consolidation? No change. Calls will be routed the same way they are today and services will still be provided by the Winnetka/Kenilworth Fire Department.
   

7. What will happen to the personnel currently employed in our dispatch center? Staff who have not already found another position are given an opportunity to interview for the newly-created positions at the Consolidated Dispatching facility. Additionally, the Village intends to hire an employee to provide records functions, answer administrative phone calls and handle front counter walk-in business Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

8. How many employees will be hired for Consolidated Dispatching? Who will interview them and make the decision on who will be employed? A total of 5 or 6 new dispatchers will be hired as Glenview employees by the Village of Glenview.  Glenview will be interviewing the dispatchers from our partnering communities first, in order to fill these positions.

9. What are estimated savings for Kenilworth?  Approximately $100,000 in annual operational savings and $120,000 in capital savings expected over the next 2 years.

10. Who will perform the ancillary duties currently handled by dispatching personnel, at what cost and when? One administrative support position will be created in Kenilworth once dispatch services are transferred to Glenview. These personnel costs have been included in the overall net savings of consolidation noted in Question #9.

11. What will Kenilworth spend on new equipment and annual operating expenses for the consolidated dispatch facility?  Annual operating expenses will be $158,810 plus a one-time capital cost of $167,500.

12. How will the dispatchers know our community if they do not work here? As in current practice all new hires go through extensive training, which includes a ride-along program so they can learn about the geography and nuances of Kenilworth.

13. Are there advantages to Consolidating Dispatch other than saving money? Yes.  At the Consolidated Dispatch Center there will be a call taker and a dispatcher to help expedite dispatch efforts and more effectively handle emergency situations.  Additionally, the Consolidated Dispatch Center includes built-in redundancy in case of a catastrophic event affecting the facility.  Currently, if the Village Hall Building were damaged in a natural disaster, the Village could not function fully in dispatch services.  Having a fully redundant dispatch center in Highland Park provides an extra level of back-up to keep emergency communications operational should the need arise. 

14. Have other communities been successful with consolidated services? Yes. The following is a list of communities that have currently operated under consolidated dispatch services with Regional Emergency Dispatch Center (fire calls only), Northwest Central Dispatch System and the Village of Glenview: