Residents have questions answered on 911 dispatch

The residents of Perry County had their questions answered about one of the more controversial issues on the April 2 ballot. The Perry County Commission, along with officials from the City of Perryville invited the public to attend a town hall panel discussion regarding the local 911 dispatch operations at the Perry County Senior Center on March 20.
Perry County Presiding Commissioner Mike Sauer began the meeting with an opening statement regarding the 911 operations.
“We are here to answer questions in a civil and respectful manner,” he said. “The County Commission and the Perryville Board of Aldermen have spent a great portion of the last 2 ½ years researching and studying dispatch services for our community. To merge our dispatch center with St. Francois we studied technology, networks, staffing, industry trends and have considered the 911 services for this community.
The panel which included Perry County Commissioners, Perry County Clerk, Perry County Sheriff and other County law enforcement, Perry County Emergency Management E-911 Director, Mayor of Perryville, Perryville City Administrator, Perryville Police Chief, and Representatives from City of Perryville 911 Dispatch Center answered dozens of questions over the course of two hours.
The questions touched a variety of questions including whether the community will be able to have access to the cameras inside the schools. Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck said will still be the case.
“We are not a community that has someone sit there 24/7 to watch those cameras,” he said. “But in the case of an emergency we will still have access to those cameras. We not the monitor for the school, but we will have full access in the cases that we need them.”
After speaking against moving the local 911 dispatch to St. Francois County in October to the Perryville Board of Aldermen, Perry County residents have since signed a petition in January to create a ballot initiative during the April 2 election, which would include a new tax. There is a buyout clause in the contract in case the sales tax passes. The County Commission signed a formal agreement with St. Francios County on Feb. 22.
The question was asked where the county sees the tax in 5-10 years if it passes.
“Without a full budget, I don’t know what the tax will look like,” Buerck said. “We know that technology is not getting cheaper for any of us. We would have to revisit it every year to see how prices have increased or changed.”

The main focus for the Perryville Police and Sheriff Departments is the safety of the officers and to have a good response time to a scene.
“My main focus is that officers get the information they need so they can get out to the scene safely,” Perry County Sheriff Jason Klaus said. “There is always going to be that lag time. But as time goes we will get better procedures whether we contract with St. Francois County or stay local.”
Right now there are a total of seven dispatchers at the city level that work the console, while the county has seven as well.
“The City of Perryville hasn’t had a fully staffed dispatch since August 2021,” Buerck said. “That’s a challenge with operating a dispatch system. We have about 88 years across the two departments. Vicki Hunt has 35 years of that experience, at the county level the most is 15. A total of 11 of dispatchers have five years or less. The average length of service is under four if we eliminate the two extremes. This is a concerning thing that the public needs to be aware of. We do not have a lot of people with 25 years of experience. It takes time to learn this job.”
If the tax passes, there will be a board of directors created and members will be appointed by the Perry County Commission. Then once they are appointed members will be elected.
Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz said there is several spots on the board that must have certain qualifications to have a spot on the board, according to state statue.
Above all, the consensus of the panel was that this was ultimately a decision that would be made by the voters.
“The beauty of this country is that we are able to vote on the topic,” Buerck said. “This will come down to what the voters want. So however people feel, they need to go cast their ballot on April 2.”