Ledyard Dispatch Still in Limbo

Ledyard Mayor John Rodolico and the Public Safety Commission say the fate of Ledyard Dispatch Center and its 13 jobs are still up in the air after a meeting Tuesday. 

Rodolico is considering outsourcing the Ledyard emergency dispatch service, which dispatches police, fire and ambulance, to an outside agency. Montville and Groton have both provided a cost estimate to the Mayor. 

A number of the Town’s first responders packed the Mayor’s office for the meeting in anticipation of hearing the result and although the Mayor has received all the costs and information he requested, he still hasn’t made a decision, according to a report in The Day. 

The costs have not been publically announced but The Day’s report says that Ledyard’s own dispatch center is the most expensive but operationally it’s the best, given that the dispatchers live in town and volunteer for the various emergency services that they dispatch so they know the town and the services well. Groton would be the least expensive and Montville was somewhere in between. 

Both the Police Union and the Ambulance Service have written letters to the mayor expressing opposition to outsourcing. Patch readers are opposed to the idea of outsourcing the dispatch center out of concern for public safetly and the people who will lose their jobs. One Patch user recently commented, “You would think as mayor of a town you'd care about your staff and not make a descision that will most certainly leave individuals without jobs. We're not in that much of an economical bind where we need to start laying off and contracting out OUR TOWN's services.”

Currently, Montville dispatches fire and ambulance – not police - and it’s unclear if they would dispatch police for Ledyard or transfer those calls to Troop E for dispatching. Groton dispatches fire and ambulance for Groton and North Stonington and they dispatch Groton Town police. They transfer North Stonington police calls to Troop E and it’s unclear if they would do the same for Ledyard.

Meanwhile, Ledyard residents recently voted to build a new police station and Rodolico made an announcement that he is considering converting the town from the state-run Resident State Trooper program to an “independent” municipal police department. 

Click here to read the full report in The Day 

Related articles:

Ledyard Ambulance Opposes Dispatch Outsourcing

Letter to the Editor: Ledyard Police Union Opposes Outsourcing Emergency Dispatch

Who Will Answer Your 9-1-1 Call?

Mayor to Offer up Emergency Services Dispatch to Qualified Bidder