(The Center Square) – Spokane is moving toward operating its own emergency communications system, a change that city officials say will give them greater control over public safety operations, while Spokane Regional Emergency Communications officials warn the move could create additional costs and duplicate infrastructure.
The city is scheduled to begin routing non-emergency police and fire calls from the county’s Crime Check service through Spokane 311 on Oct. 27 as it prepares to launch its own public safety answering point, or PSAP.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said the transition is intended to streamline the reporting process, improve response and make it easier for residents to know who to call for non-emergency needs.
“Transitioning City of Spokane non-emergency calls from Crime Check to Spokane 311 marks the first step in the implementation of our independent emergency communications system,” Brown said in a Sept. 29 announcement.
The transition comes after months of disagreements between the City of Spokane and SREC over governance, financing and the future of regional emergency communications.
Kelly Conley, communications and public information officer for SREC, spoke with The Center Square and said the regional agency does not oppose Spokane establishing its own communications center.
“Fundamentally we support the City’s decision to create their own center,” Conley said.
SREC’s concerns instead center on what Conley described as the potential duplication of costs and infrastructure that comes with operating separate systems.
Cost and staffing concerns
Conley said regionalization allows agencies to share the costs of staffing, technology, maintenance and other infrastructure.
SREC currently has 18 budgeted fire dispatcher positions, with 14 filled. Spokane’s planning documents have projected the city would need approximately 14 fire dispatchers under its independent system.
Conley questioned whether maintaining separate staffing structures could result in costs that otherwise could have been shared through the regional system.
The city says its staffing model will be different from SREC’s.
Spokane Public Information Officer Erin Hut told The Center Square via email on Friday that the city’s model will include call-taker I and II positions and dispatcher I and II positions for police and fire, with Dispatcher II employees trained in both disciplines.
Hut said the structure is intended to improve staff retention and dispatcher well-being while giving the city more flexibility during periods when demand shifts.
“If there are more fire dispatchers needed than police dispatchers, we have already trained staff available to assist with that demand,” Hut said.
Hut also said the city expects the initial costs of creating its system to balance out within a few years.
“When it comes to emergency services, redundancy is helpful,” Hut said in her email. “While there are initial startup costs, the City’s analysis/projections show that we will balance costs within a few short years.”
The city has not yet provided updated dollar figures supporting that projection.
Hut said the city’s budget team is currently focused on the biennial budget but could provide additional details in the coming days or weeks.
CAD systems
One of the biggest areas of disagreement involves Computer-Aided Dispatch, or CAD.
Conley said SREC and Spokane had previously been involved in discussions surrounding SREC’s new CAD system. Spokane is now developing and implementing its own system, creating what SREC considers another area of potentially duplicated cost.
Separate systems also require the agencies to maintain CAD-to-CAD connectivity so information can be shared when agencies respond together or provide automatic aid.
“We continue to work with the City to ensure we will have an interface between the two systems,” Conley said. “It does add another layer of complexity and requires more work to be done, however.”
The city says operating its own CAD system is a deliberate decision based on security, privacy and data integrity.
Hut said controlling its own CAD system will allow Spokane to build and govern the platform around the specific needs of Spokane police and fire.
The city also says CAD-to-CAD connectivity for automatic aid was a central part of its planning with SREC.
Hut said SREC had originally planned to bring its CAD system online in the fourth quarter of 2026 before later announcing a delay to March 2027. Spokane has already built its system, is testing it and training employees, and is targeting a December 2026 launch.
Radio infrastructure
Radio infrastructure is another area where the agencies will have to coordinate.
SREC operates 23 radio towers and nearly 5,000 radios used by first responders, according to the regional agency.
Conley said regional infrastructure allows agencies to share those costs rather than building and maintaining separate systems.
Hut said Spokane, Spokane County and SREC have agreed to a separate interlocal agreement involving radio systems.
The city also plans to use an independent consultant to help develop a cost-sharing structure for the radio system. Hut said that issue is expected to go before the Spokane City Council later this month.
Response times
Conley also cautioned against assuming that creating a separate communications center will automatically mean emergency responders arrive faster.
She said emergency response involves multiple stages, including taking the call, processing information, dispatching responders and the responders’ actual travel time.
The city argues that operating its own PSAP will provide greater flexibility to respond to Spokane-specific public safety needs.
Hut said Spokane also plans to integrate mental health clinicians into its dispatch operations.
“Simply put: it’s about fast response times AND appropriate service response,” Hut said.
Why Spokane is leaving the regional model
The disagreement also involves how Spokane’s departure from the regional system came about.
Hut said the city approached SREC in good faith with concerns about governance and financing after receiving a demand from the SREC Board that Spokane either place Spokane Police into SREC or remove Spokane Fire from the regional model.
According to Hut, the SREC Board ultimately voted to remove Spokane Fire from the regional model beginning Jan. 1.
The city subsequently negotiated a different timeline for the transition, Hut said.
Conley said SREC supports Spokane establishing its own center, while the disagreement has focused on the structure and consequences of the separation.
Hut said Spokane is the largest municipality in the region and has public safety needs that differ from its rural neighbors. She said an independent system will allow the city to make decisions based on the needs of Spokane residents.
Transition cost
The ultimate cost of creating a separate system remains an unresolved question.
SREC has previously cited projections of approximately $39.4 million in costs during the first two years and $94 million over five years. Those figures include existing expenses as well as projected costs associated with the new system.
“From SREC’s perspective, the central question is what residents will pay to sustain separate systems compared with sharing those functions regionally, and what measurable service benefits they will receive,” Conley said.
The city has not provided updated figures corresponding to those projections.
Hut said Spokane expects the startup costs to be offset within a few years, in part through the reallocation of sales and use tax and excise tax revenues that fund emergency communications locally.