Calls for police, fire, and emergency medical services from Guadalupe are now officially being routed to dispatchers in Santa Maria.
The city of Santa Maria announced that the transition took place the week of March 21. In a written statement, the city said the transition will reduce response times and increase police and firefighter safety.
“Santa Maria’s Centralized Dispatch Center has the capacity to be able to dispatch for other surrounding public safety agencies on an as-needed and authorized basis,” the statement said. “Its state-of-the-art systems can support the combined radio, 911, and data requirements of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties’ public safety agencies.”
Previously, the city of Guadalupe contracted with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for emergency dispatching services, but the switch to Santa Maria has been months in the making. On Aug. 7, 2018, the Santa Maria City Council voted to approve a contract to take over the services for seven years. According to the agreement, Guadalupe will pay an annual fee of $73,611 for the dispatch services, though that fee could increase if Guadalupe asks for additional services from Santa Maria.
“The city of Guadalupe desires to leverage the investments made by the city of Santa Maria to afford the use of these technologies to improve their emergency response services to their citizens,” a Santa Maria city staff report from the Aug. 7 meeting stated.
The new agreement also means a change to the Guadalupe Police Department’s non-emergency line, (805) 343-2112. Previously, calls placed on the line after 5 p.m. were routed to voicemail. Now, the line will operate on a 24-hour basis, with after-hours calls being answered by Santa Maria dispatch personnel.
This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2019.