Mon Valley 911 channels to merge into one next month, bringing concern from police officials

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Allegheny County 911 Center receives anywhere from 4,500-5000 calls a day.

All of those calls are fielded by call-takers and dispatchers who use specific radio channels that are designated for certain departments.

Starting next week, two channels that handle several Monongahela Valley neighborhoods like McKeesport, White Oak, Clairton and Port Vue will merge from two channels to one.

That means call-takers and dispatchers will be answering emergency calls and routing police officers for 11 different departments on the merged channel.

“Airtime is hard to come by as it is right now,” Port Vue Police Chief David Petruski told Channel 11.

Petruski said he’s concerned for his officers’ safety if they have to fight for open radio airtime with other communities that have a high volume of calls, like McKeesport or Clairton.

“Those several minutes or seconds could be critical if an officer is trying to get on the radio, if he’s on a foot case, car chase, on a violent domestic or a shooting, and he’s trying to get information relayed on the air,” Petruski said.

Petruski is also worried about public safety.

If more than one person calls 911 at the same time, the call takers and dispatchers have to prioritize the more serious call, then notify police. This means the other caller would have to wait.

“Dispatch could be holding a call for a few minutes, emergency or not, depending on if they can get the air to relay the call to us. There could be a several-second wait,” Petruski added.

However, Allegheny County Chief Matt Brown says more departments on one channel is a good thing, and more officers will hear calls.

“In many cases, there might be one officer on a shift, so if you put that together, that could be equivalent to seven people on that channel on any given time,” Brown said.

Plus, other communities throughout the county have merged their channels, and it has proven to be successful.

Part of the reason for the change is staffing, because just like the rest of the country, they’re low on dispatchers. Brown is asking dispatchers, police chiefs and officers to be patient.

“This is a change. We get it. We understand it,” Brown added.

The channels will be merged on May 5.

State Police: Lyft driver called police, felt unsafe with passenger who later stole her car

©2022 Cox Media Group