Plenty Of Discussion On Com. Centre Closure

Emotions ran high at a public meeting Thursday night to discuss the closure of the Dryden Police Communications Centre.
A crowd made up mostly of officers, Dryden Police Association members, dispatchers and their families attended the information session.
Dispatcher Cindy Skene says switching to Owen Sound Police will result in a loss of the personal touch.
Skene says she’s worried about the safety of the officers and notes they are one big family.
Skene has been in the Com. Centre for four years and she notes she has seen two lives saved because of the quick action of emergency responders.
She stresses everyone is scared of the unknown right now.
Skene and others voiced concern about a drop in the level of service and increased response times.
Losing the personal touch was another message delivered at the meeting and others were upset with the lack of public consultation.
Dryden Police Chief Rob Davis stressed it was a Police Board decision and they decided to take it to the legal stage as is required under provincial law.
Owen Sound Police Chief Bill Sornberger says there won’t be much change and the public won’t notice much of a difference.
Sornberger says his staff offers the same personal touch and they have qualified and caring dispatchers.
He notes dispatchers will be in direct contact with individual officers and stresses they have the technology to communicate with anyone in North America.
Sornberger says the response time won’t change and officers will be dispatched in a timely manner.
He says they have 9 full time and 9 part time staff on the payroll and 3 dispatchers on duty during peak times.
Sornberger notes they will be hiring additional staff and stresses Dryden dispatchers have the opportunity to apply.
Sornberger adds they can handle any 911 call or any call to the station after hours.
The Dryden Police Service will maintain the daytime front office position and the 223-3281 number to handle calls during business hours.
Ann Tkachyk is the Chief Negotiator for the Dryden Police Association and she says they have more questions than answers.
She notes the logistics don’t work with the Owen Sound Police Department and says Dryden residents will see a big change.
Tkachyk questions the day to day operations and who will be doing paperwork.
She says it was good to start the discussion between the Association and the Police Board and is hopeful that both sides can move forward.
The final step in the switch-over is a public meeting with OCPC where people will have a chance to voice their opinion on the move.
A date for that meeting hasn’t been set.