The Brentwood Public Safety Committee met June 19, with aldermen Anthony Harper, Lee Wynn and Tom Kramer.
40 South News obtained a recording of the meeting.
East Central Dispatch Center (ECDC) transition issues were on the agenda. The city recently switched from city dispatchers to the shared dispatch service.
Fire Chief Ted Jury said the fire department has taken care of any ECDC issues, and the transition has been made.
Chief of Police Dan Fitzgerald said the biggest consideration is that they currently can’t use the Brentwood holding cells because the monitoring system isn’t ready, so prisoners are taken to ECDC or St. Louis County. Brentwood’s holding cells should be ready sometime in August.
Another delay for keeping prisoners in the Brentwood police department is that the building currently doesn’t have an alarm that notifies anyone outside the building in case of a fire.
A Brentwood public works employee said that before the switch to ECDC, if a fire occurred in the police department an alarm would notify Brentwood dispatchers, who would notify the fire department.
Now no one will know there’s a fire unless they’re in the building, or someone sees smoke from the outside and reports it. The committee approved a supplier to install a system that will notify ECDC in case of a fire.
Fitzgerald also said that it was discovered that their walkie talkies are having problems transmitting with ECDC, especially when in a building. He said their older radios are a problem, and also the increased distance to the ECDC tower.
He said the radios will be replaced later in the year. Meanwhile the city, Wireless USA and the Emergency Communication Commission are working on a fix. City Administrator Bola Akande also said the switch to new radios could possibly be be moved up instead of waiting until later in the year.
For now, officers are using cell phones to communicate when they need to, Fitzgerald said.
See also: Brentwood police having radio problems: Richmond Heights police
The committee also approved a panic alarm system for city hall.
Before the switch to ECDC, Brentwood dispatchers monitored city hall with video and audio. Now, video goes to ECDC, but they can’t guarantee meetings will be monitored 100 percent of the time. The committee approved a system that goes to a third party, bypassing ECDC, that will respond to Brentwood if an alarm is sounded. The cost is $1,726.
See also: Red telephone call in Brentwood BOA explained
Fitzgerald also said the department’s tasers are eight to 10 years old, and five out of 10 aren’t working. He said they’re used six to 10 times a year, but daily wear and tear has taken its toll. The issue will go to Ways and Means.
The Backstoppers barbecue in June raised $3,500 for the group, Fitzgerald said.
A previous concern that Alderman Tom Kramer had about Eulalie Avenue being wide enough for emergency vehicles had gathered momentum and was aired in the meeting.
Kramer said he had spoken with some firefighters about residents’ vehicles being wider than cars of the past and thought it might be a problem. He brought it up at the April public safety meeting and also talked with Alderwoman Cindy Manestar about it, since it’s her ward. Manestar made flyers and distributed them to keep the neighbors up to date.
As a result, three Eulalie residents spoke at the meeting against one-side-only street parking and widening the street.
Fire Chief Ted Jury said none of the Eulalie talk had come from him. He said the new fire truck is the same width as the old one, and the department knows how to access Eulalie and a dozen other narrow streets in the city.
The Public Safety Committee meeting for July 17 has been canceled, per the Brentwood city website.
Kramer can’t be king he is going to run for director of the street department based on his record of keeping brentwood blvd in such excellent repair. Plus he’s too tall, you’d have to buy a new throne the current one is petite size. Kramer is clearly at least 30″ taller than the current king.
Oh look, we have to spend even more tax payer money to transition to ECDC.
Yep.
Maureen, I read your comments and all I can do is laugh and shake my head. You comment on everything on “news” site but it is obvious you truly have no idea what you are talking about. Seriously, where do you get your “facts”? You continually assume that you are an expert on almost everything. Do you actually attend any city meetings, do you actually ask questions to city officials instead of relying on second hand “news” and rumors? For some reason the word crazy comes to mind.
Hi Joshua. re your post: I don’t care. sorry. But you keep looking for someone who does, and take your angst up with them. love, maureen
Sadly that is exactly what I expected. The people who frequently comment on this site continually respond to rumors and innuendo that they seem to always take as fact without actually having any real idea whatsoever as to what they are talking about. Maureen, you are a perfect example of this behavior. You carelessly throw comments around without any basis in fact. When asked if you ever actually attend any city meetings or speak directly with any city officials you refuse to respond. Typical, you assume everyone’s opinion is wrong except yours. You are nothing more than a loudmouth coward.
Hi Joshua. please re-read my previous post. love, maureen
Hi Maureen, thanks for proving my point.
Hi Joshua, Again—please read my original response. love, maureen
re The width of Eulalie and FD vehicles—this is an unfortunate pressure on everyone. As a regular traveler on Eulalie, I have to pull over to the side of the street in my old car– to allow on-coming cars to pass. Passenger vehicles are wider, and many times people, esp. children are getting into or out of a street parked cars/minivans.
Whatever the ultimate solution will be, I lay these issues at the feet of our citizenry-deaf top administration.
Time for more judicious evaluations before we begin seeing Brentwood, ECDC and the Mayor handicapped in the daily racing form along with the ‘has-been’, leg wrapped & doped up nags at the track. As a pony lover this is the clearest analogy that comes to mind.
I never remember this City being so off it’s mark, and for such a long time. –ok, so I’m not making ‘friends’ here. But maybe I just believe Brentwood is BETTER THAN “THIS.” Time to get rid of the top adm. and crony BOA members, and find some fresh eyes to see what Brentwood should really look like. For now, ‘it sure ain’t ‘this’.
Gratis to Alds. Manestar, Kramer, Saunders and sometimes Lehey for asking the hard questions and towing the line for the rest of us. Will be very interested in seeing the Eulalie resolution unfold.
Chief Fitzgerald is a good choice for Police Chief. He is candid about pros and cons, and his commentary is strait forward. The institution of a Chief’s Desk Blotter has been a plus in allowing the community to evaluate our needs in real time–so again, C.Fitzgerald has come through.
I am concerned about the safety of our FR’s both police and fire/paramedics. In and of themselves, there are no better departments in our greater Metro area. However, the lack of a smooth transition to ECDC and the ongoing communication issues, first one thing, dove-tailing into another–seems like ECDC came out WAY ahead of Brentwood on this contract. ECDC just wanted a bigger slice of the pie, and Brentwood accommodated against it’s best interests.
I do not relish the thought of putting our FR’s or a resident(s) or commercial or private properties in jeopardy because ECDC was not really ready to take us on. Yet they wanted to grow at our expense and we see the consequences. So damn the torpedo and full speed ahead, here we are. Finishing on a telling note, in severe crisis emergencies, ECDC will be bypassed altogether to assure competence by a third party. [Tom Kramer, how do you feel about running for Mayor?]