29-01-2025
Stanislaus County leaders take next step to explore dispatch partnership with Ceres police
Stanislaus County leaders voted 3-2 Tuesday to further explore a plan for the Sheriff's Department and Ceres police to partner in a 911 dispatch center.
Some supervisors feared the action is premature and will signal the county is leaving the 25-year joint powers authority with Modesto that operates Stanislaus Regional 911. But comments at Tuesday's meeting of four and a half hours suggest that marriage is on the rocks.
County leaders said they want vetted numbers on the start-up costs of an agreement with Ceres, which has a dispatch center, and the savings from using a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system that was jointly developed by Oracle and the Sheriff's Department.
Supervisor Vito Chiesa said he wants, as early as next week, clarification on a time delay as the Oracle system transfers calls for incidents in the sheriff's contract cities: Riverbank, Hughson, Patterson and Waterford. The supervisor said he heard the required transfer could add between five and 90 seconds to a fire service or emergency medical service response.
Board Chairman Buck Condit said he needed to find out how Riverbank Police Services and fire districts would be affected by a switch to a sheriff and Ceres dispatch center. Supervisors Channce Condit, Terry Withrow and Mani Grewal supported the motion to take the next step and seriously explore the plan with Ceres. Buck Condit and Chiesa voted no.
The Sheriff's Department and the four contract cities could pull away from Stanislaus Regional 911. The center on Oakdale Road would continue emergency dispatches for Modesto and most fire districts in the county.
Withrow expressed concern the county may look like it's leaving the JPA and miss a chance of mending ties with Modesto. It then would be left with no options if the numbers don't support a deal with Ceres.
During the meeting, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse and his staff sang the praises of the Oracle system and gave unfavorable reviews of a CentralSquare CAD approved last year to replace the antiquated system at the Regional 911 center.
Dirkse, an elected sheriff, said he intends to leave the JPA but also stressed he started working with Oracle on a CAD after Modesto indicated in 2021 it was withdrawing from Stanislaus Regional.
Sheriff's Department staff said the Oracle system combines dispatch with a records management and jail management system. The jail management software will expedite bookings and help with tracking more than 1,400 inmates, their gang affiliations and prisoners who may need special protection.
Stanislaus Regional's current antiquated system often requires deputies to wait several minutes for information before approaching a car. Investigators may need to open 13 different modules to find records.
Brandon Kirkbride of the Stanislaus Sworn Deputies Association said Ceres has been waiting for a commitment from county leadership on a dispatch partnership. 'We are sick and tired of the systems we have,' Kirkbride said. 'They are garbage.'
The deal with Oracle would give the county free use of the system for five years, an estimated cost savings of $8.25 million.
Channce Condit said the eye-popping savings figures justified exploring the plan further and confirming the numbers.
Supervisor Mani Grewal said the reputed cost-savings should be vetted. The Oracle company is a renowned technology leader, but it's newly developed CAD is mostly untested. Grewal noted that CentralSquare is serving thousands of municipalities, according to its website. Oracle is serving four.
Daniel Phillips, president of the labor association representing dispatchers, said he was 'underwhelmed' when he tried the Oracle CAD, and none of union-represented dispatchers who tried it supported the system. Sheriff's Capt. Tori Hughes countered that the dispatchers tried the CAD before a configuration had taken place.
The county considers leaving Stanislaus Regional 911 after years of reported dysfunction among the agencies involved.
The CentralSquare system acquired for Stanislaus Regional 911 came under criticism, as some agencies have expressed dissatisfaction. Turlock, which is using CentralSquare, is now taking a look at the Ceres partnership.
Ceres officials, who attended the Tuesday's meeting, said the city's first-year costs for a joint dispatch center are $6 million including salaries. The Sheriff's Department presentation estimated a one-time cost of $1.3 million for Ceres. A start-up cost figure of $4.5 million was also mentioned by a Ceres official.
County supervisors said they want to see firm estimates and negotiated cost-sharing numbers, and said there's no guarantee yet the county will partner with Ceres.
