State Police plan intensifies fears of Troop B barracks closing

NORTH CANAAN — A long-awaited look at a plan for the consolidation of State Police communication services has been provided to state Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30).It begins to answer some questions raised by town officials, legislators and the press over the course of the last year.The plan calls for 911 and police dispatch for Troop B in North Canaan and Troop A in Southbury to be relocated and combined into an expanded operations center at Troop L in Litchfield. Budget concernsSix consoles would be set up to equal the current staffing levels at all three troops. It will allow for flexible scheduling, with staff levels modified to meet needs, and the ability to staff beyond normal operations for planned events and emergencies. Sources say it will happen as soon as April 1.Roraback said at a Feb. 24 legislative priorities meeting held by regional planning agencies that he had requested a copy of the written plan and a budget for the work. He suspected there was nothing to be seen. Indeed, the report, sent by Col. Danny Stebbins, deputy commissioner of the Department of Emergency Service and Public Protection (DESPP), appears to be written in response to the request, as opposed to having been a working document for implementation of a plan.The report does expand on the rationale for the consolidation: saving money, increasing efficiency and boosting public safety, shifting troopers from desks to hazardous duty. The start-up cost is $200,000. Staffing costs for 2010 for the three troops show $1,615,080 for troopers and $1,515,153 for dispatchers, for a total of more than $3.1 million. Under the new scenario, trooper costs would total $5,374,447 and dispatchers (one trooper, the rest civilians) $1,281,911. The savings would be more than $1.3 million.According to the report, the governor’s budget shows a $40,000 savings for the current fiscal year, an indication that the plan is expected go into effect before June 30.“Revenue generators” is the way the extra troopers are described, with the caveat that it is not by design. The five former desk troopers at Troop A “could conservatively write infractions for up to as much as $175,000 annually. The former deskmen at Troop B could conservatively write infractions for as much as $71,000.”More troopers to staff needed patrols can be used effectively to eliminate costly overtime pay.Safety concernsSpeaking more to expressed concerns than costs and savings is the potential impact on public safety. The report expands on a description of the resulting scenario at the troops, which deal with phone calls and walk-ins around the clock, ranging from requests for incident reports to on-the-road emergencies. The report confirms the primary concern, stating that after the consolidation, “Troops A and B may not always be occupied outside of regular business hours, as is the case in other state police departments.”Here is what walk-ins will find: Pedestal emergency phones with video monitoring in troop lobbies, connected to Troop L dispatch. Routine calls, instead of being answered by a civilian or police dispatcher as they are now, will go directly to an “administrative call auto-attendant.”Salisbury Selectman and retired State Trooper Mark Lauretano has been very vocal about inside knowledge that has kept him insistent that this is just the first step in the eventual closing of Troop B. At the March 1 North Canaan Board of Selectmen’s meeting, he reported that he had received the long-awaited written plan sent to Roraback the day before. “It is nothing more than what I would consider a puff piece to promote the regional alliance of the dispatching here in our area,” Lauretano said. “It is extremely disappointing that Colonel Stebbins and Commissioner Bradford of the State Police couldn’t come up with a comprehensive written plan and analysis for us.”Lauretano said he sent a detailed list of questions to the commissioner and the colonel through Roraback, which are not answered in the report. He plans to send a response.He remains concerned that a detailed budget was not provided. According to his inside sources, Lauretano said AT&T is being asked to install phone lines at no cost. He is also concerned that it will be too difficult and costly to reverse the consolidation if it doesn’t work out.Connecticut has 12 troops, each with its own 911 and dispatch functions. A committee has been reviewing, since the beginning of 2011, the report says, various scenarios for greater efficiency. Those scenarios included regional dispatch facilities, a single state wide call center and consolidating troops.