Photo by Erin Nelson.
Mountain Brook Police Department vehicles sit outside the Mountain Brook Police Department in Crestline Village. The Mountain Brook Emergency Communications District recently signed a three-year contract with the Shelby County Emergency Communications District to take over as the provider of E-911 services for the city.
The Mountain Brook Emergency Communications District recently signed a three-year contract with the Shelby County Emergency Communications District to take over as the provider of E-911 services for the city.
Mountain Brook’s 911 services are currently provided by dispatchers employed in-house and supervised by police personnel.
The Shelby County Emergency Communications District approved the contract at its July 29 board meeting to take over public safety dispatch services for Mountain Brook. Following the effective date of the contract, there will be a five-month implementation period, lasting until about Jan. 10, 2022.
“We plan to cut them over and start answering their 911 calls on Jan. 10, after the implementation period,” said Alan Campbell, executive director of Shelby 911. “We are moving into the new 280 County Services Building in November and have to have time to move in and train new employees.”
In addition to Mountain Brook, Shelby 911 also provides these services for other emergency communications for the city of Vestavia Hills and also almost all of Shelby County, excluding Pelham.
Per the contract, Mountain Brook will pay a one-time fee up front of $132,000 for hardware and other equipment costs, and then the city will then pay a monthly charge of $43,500.
“We’ve been doing Vestavia’s services for seven years now,” Campbell said. “Mountain Brook had a consultant who approached us about the possibility of doing the services for the city, and after checking other options, it was concluded that Shelby County was the best solution.”
Campbell said they are excited to bring on the city of Mountain Brook and are confident they will provide excellent services for their citizens.
“With our consolidated dispatch services, we can be more efficient and provide a better service,” he said. “[After the move], we will be hiring seven employees to handle the workload, along with a training manager to help everyone who is in the dispatch center.”
Two other positions will be added, including a dispatcher for MBPD and another 911 operator.
– Village Living Community Editor Jesse Chambers contributed to this story.
