EL SEGUNDO, MANHATTAN BEACH : Plans Begun for Police, Fire Dispatch Center
City councils in El Segundo and Manhattan Beach authorized design work Tuesday for an $880,000 police and fire dispatch center to be located at the El Segundo Police Department.
If the center is built, El Segundo would operate it with 14 full-time dispatchers and share costs with Manhattan Beach. The facility would serve both cities, and officials will also propose that Hermosa Beach participate.
El Segundo and Manhattan Beach now participate in a South Bay dispatch program that also serves Gardena and Hawthorne, but El Segundo officials believe the program fails to serve their city’s needs.
“They’re using equipment designed in the ‘60s,” said El Segundo Police Chief Tim Grimmond. “We’re trying to give El Segundo and Manhattan Beach an alternative.”
The city councils each approved $90,000 on Tuesday to pay for design work by Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo.
The yearly operational cost for the dispatch center is estimated at $1 million.
Compared with the cities’ current costs for dispatch services, El Segundo officials estimate the city would save about $440,000 over the first five years and Manhattan Beach would save about $640,000.
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