Police Dispatch Center Approval Is Expected

A police dispatch center that would consolidate operations for Seal Beach, Cypress and Los Alamitos is expected to win final approval by year’s end, Seal Beach officials said this week, and could be completed by next fall.

Seal Beach Police Chief Bill Stearns said the center would not only link the cities to the new countywide radio communications system now being set up, it would also save them money.

Known as West-Comm, the 1,070-square-foot communications center would be at the Seal Beach Police Department and cost about $122,000 to build. The three cities would share design and construction costs for the center as well as equipment. Police operations and patrols would remain autonomous.

The three cities conducted a feasibility study in 1993 of consolidation of police dispatch systems, but the cost at the time would have outweighed the potential savings, Stearns said.

When the county announced its plans to launch a countywide system next fall, Seal Beach and the other two cities each faced a bill as high as $1 million to link up.

Dispatchers service about 87,000 residents in the three cities, with Cypress accounting for about 45% of the calls; Seal Beach, 30%; and Los Alamitos, 24%.

Stearns said each city will contribute to the overall cost of the operation, with Cypress putting in about $886,000; Los Alamitos, $496,000; and Seal Beach, $631,000.

Keith Till, Seal Beach city manager, said that because of the turnover rate common in police dispatch, no layoffs are expected as a result of the consolidation.