Bronson police chief finds solutions in obtaining dispatch services

Herald-Tribune

A Pontiac Bonneville traveled into Bronson's city limits. It was speeding. Bronson Police Chief Gene Parker pulled over the driver.

The weather was miserable that Friday night. Rain pelted down hard.

"If I have to get wet, somebody's probably gettin' a ticket," Parker quipped.

Parker flipped open his Motorola Razr cell phone. He made a call. A woman's voice answered. It was a dispatcher with the Iola Police Department. He read her the car's license plate letters and numbers.

After he received the registration information, Parker got out of his squad car and approached the driver's side window. He returned a few minutes later and called the woman back. Parker then submitted the driver's license information.

It all checked out. Parker decided to let the man go with just a warning.

Luckily, Parker has access to Iola's dispatch -- the Bronson Police Department attained that dispatch access as a result of a failure between the department and the city of Fort Scott to reach an agreement that would allow Parker to use Fort Scott Police's dispatch center.

Bronson Mayor Jimmy Nichols spoke at a Fort Scott City Commission meeting in February. He said that Bronson had started up their police force once again and that the department needs dispatch access.

However, his city can't afford to pay Fort Scott $1,040 per month for the service. He asked commissioners if the price could be reduced.

A few months later, Nichols met with Fort Scott City Manager Richard Nienstedt and Public Safety Director Jeff Davis about the issue. Nichols again asked if the price could be reduced.

"They wouldn't budge off the price that was on the agreement," Nichols said.

The agreement was basically the same agreement that Bronson entered into with Fort Scott from 2000 to 2002. During that time, Bronson police used dispatch and paid the same that was presented to Nichols; $12,480 per year. During those years, Bronson paid a total of $34,320 to Fort Scott. Nichols said the general fund was reduced because the city had to pay the monthly bill for dispatch.

The Bronson Police Department disbanded in December 2002. In October, Nichols decided to restart the force. He asked Parker, who had previous law enforcement experience, to be his chief of police.

Nichols said there's "a lot of meth" in Bronson; Parker agreed. The police chief has made narcotics arrests and is addressing the drug problem in town.

The mayor said having Parker on duty not only helps the citizens of Bronson but also area towns.

"Yeah, we're trying to clean our own town up, but if we can take some of these people off the street that are bringing drugs into Fort Scott or doing things in Fort Scott, then it's going to help Fort Scott in the long-run," Nichols said.

"My point to the commissioners (Fort Scott) was that anything that happens in Bronson affects Fort Scott, and that's what my point was to the Allen County Commissioners. The drugs that are manufactured in Bronson--it's being sold inside city limits of towns in both counties."

That's why providing dispatch to Bronson is key to allow Parker to safely and effectively combat the drug problem, Nichols said.

Ask any patrol officer, Parker said, and they'll say communication is their number one tool. Staying in contact with dispatch and other officers is key.

"There's been times when I've been in total darkness," Parker said of his lack of communications. No radio, no dispatch, no notification of an emergency.

Since Parker started in October, all he had for communication was his cell phone. He didn't have dispatch access. When he pulled over a vehicle, he couldn't run the plates or identification.

"I wouldn't have known if the car was stolen or the driver had a warrant for murder," Parker said.

Nichols decided to seek dispatch elsewhere. He had no choice.

"I really had no where else to turn to," he said. "It was out of desperation. I needed to get help."

He talked to Iola Police Chief Jim Kilby, who then talked to Allen County Sheriff Tom Williams about the situation. Nichols, in June, discussed the issue with Allen County commissioners, giving the same presentation as he did months prior to Fort Scott commissioners.

Williams and Kilby agreed that Iola and Allen County should help Bronson, according to an article in The Iola Register.

"We want to help out as much as we can," Kilby said in a telephone interview with The Tribune. "We consider it mutual aid."

Allen county commissioners on June 26 voted unanimously to allow Bronson police emergency access to Iola's dispatch. Kilby said a long-term mutual aid agreement is being drafted to allow Bronson to have access to Iola dispatch.

Iola is not charging Bronson any money for the service.

Even though Parker can now check plates and identification, he still can't get dispatched out to emergencies that happen in Bronson. All 911 calls in the county are received by FSPD's dispatch, so Parker can't be dispatched out to emergencies. However, Bourbon County deputies usually contact him and advise him of the situation in such cases.

Nichols thanked Allen County officials who helped make it possible for Parker to have a dispatch service. Nichols also thanked the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office, who he said has "been a big help" to Bronson.

Fort Scott Mayor Dick Hedges said it was his understanding of the meeting between Davis, Nienstedt and Nichols that the Fort Scott officials wouldn't take less than the $12,480 price tag.

"I think both of them (Nichols and city officials) had different view points on how it ought to be," Hedges said. "Apparently, my guess would be, they didn't work anything out."

Hedges recently attended a meeting with city staff who informed him there's an effort to meet with Nichols again and see if "we can come up with something."

"I just want, at the end of the day, to say we've had a sincere talk about it and we're either at an impasse or we're not at an impasse," Hedges said. "So that's how it's left right now."

Davis said he would've recommended that same amount, $12,480, if an agreement would've been reached.

"That's the amount I would have recommended," he said.

Parker has attempted to call the dispatch center to run plates and check ID, but has been rejected.

Davis said the reason has to do with Parker not being a certified law enforcement officer in the state of Kansas. To become certified, an officer has to go through the police academy in the state. Parker is planning on attending the academy in September.

Officers have access, through dispatch, to criminal history information. The department can't give that information to just anyone.

The dispatch center is audited by the Kansas Highway Patrol on how personnel handles and disseminates criminal history.

"We have to ensure that the person requesting and receiving that information is authorized to have that type of information," Davis said.

Some officers the department hires are not certified but can still access the information. Davis said in that situation, the uncertified officer trains with a seasoned officer for several weeks. That gives department officials the certainty that they're allowing the uncertified officer to have access to the criminal history.

"If we were not assured our own people met the standards to have access to criminal history records, we certainly wouldn't have them here," Davis said. "I don't have any control over other agencies and their hiring process."

Nichols said the situation is not about Fort Scott vs. Bronson. The citizens of Bronson love having Fort Scott as their county seat. Nichols said the bottom line is money, because his city can't afford the price for dispatch.