West Vancouver, B.C. — Following five months of operational and technical planning, the West Vancouver Police Department (WVPD) moved its dispatch operations to the E-Comm regional emergency communications centre this morning.
Stationed at the new WVPD section of the E-Comm centre, Brian Jung – a five-year dispatcher for West Vancouver police – assumed command of the dispatch channels at 8:15 a.m., and Chief Peter Lepine took to the airwaves just after:
“I’m at E-Comm where our transition was successfully completed just moments ago,” said Chief Lepine. “Today is an important day for the West Vancouver Police Department and the community we serve. I’m confident our new dispatch partnership with E-Comm will enhance the already outstanding service you provide to West Vancouver. Have a good shift everyone and stay safe.”
WVPD’s move to E-Comm will offer many operational benefits to the department, including the ability to increase staffing to handle sudden influxes of multiple 9-1-1 calls, and access to a back-up centre and robust operational and technical systems.
WVPD’s 10 call-taking and dispatching staff who are moving to E-Comm have been visiting the centre over the summer to meet their new colleagues and receive training. They will continue to perform the exact same call-taking and dispatch duties they did while employed by WVPD. E-Comm staff have also been immersed in training in West Vancouver to familiarize themselves with the community, its geography and WVPD operations.
“We are thrilled to welcome the West Vancouver police dispatch staff to our communications centre and are proud to be providing dispatch services to the police members serving West Vancouver,” said E-Comm President & CEO David Guscott. “Our goal is to enhance and support emergency response in every community we are a part of and to ensure we meet the high standards of service our partners expect from the critical role of 9-1-1 call-taking and dispatch.”
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E-Comm answers almost one million 9-1-1 calls each year for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Whistler, Squamish and the southern portion of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and provides dispatch services to 30 police and fire departments. For tips on using 9-1-1 and more information about E-Comm, visit www.ecomm911.ca or follow us on Twitter @EComm911_info.
Cst. Lisa Schmidtke
West Vancouver Police Department
604-925-7429
Jody Robertson
E-Comm 9-1-1
604-215-4956 or 604-640-1342 (pager)
[email protected]