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Summit County and Park City Consolidate Public Safety Dispatch Services
Summit County & Park City Consolidate Public Safety Dispatch Services
Coalville, UT (August 31, 2017)—Over the past year, Summit County and Park City Municipal leadership have been working together to consolidate and streamline public safety dispatch services. The county and city both recognized that our communities would be better served—and public safety services would be executed more efficiently—by combining resources. Effective January 1, Summit County Sheriff’s Office will provide dispatch services for all public safety agencies in Summit County, including Police, Fire, EMS, and Public Works.
Chief Wade Carpenter and Sheriff Justin Martinez issued the following joint statement:
“Our command staffs have collectively been evaluating the creation of a unified dispatch service for well over a year. By consolidating to form the Public Safety Communications Center, we will improve public safety communication, increase efficiencies and provide enhanced 911 dispatch operations, enabling us to be more responsive to requests from both our public safety agencies and the public. The overall safety and welfare of the residents and guests within our jurisdiction remains our primary focus.”
Park City’s Dispatch has historically acted as the liaison between the City’s internal municipal divisions and community businesses, as well as key city, county, state, and federal agencies. This new partnership and consolidation will further strengthen interdisciplinary information-sharing while maintaining the same level of customer service excellence for all county residents and visitors.
Under the consolidated structure, fewer emergency calls will be transferred, resulting in a more efficient emergency communications system and a higher level of service. Additionally, police emergency communications will be simulcast on one channel, which will be accessed by local and state police agencies.
The Park City and Summit County Public Safety dispatchers are a dedicated team of public safety professionals who work daily behind the scenes to ensure our community receives outstanding customer service. We thank them for their ongoing commitment to our safety and security.
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Media Contacts:
Krachel Greenwood, Summit County Community and Public Affairs Coordinator
O: (435) 336-3044
C: (801) 699-4582
Lt. Andrew Wright Summit County Sheriff’s Office
O: (435) 615-3686
C: (435) 659-4119
Linda Jager, Park City Municipal Corporation Community Engagement Manager
O: (435) 615-5189
C: (435) 901-2311
Biochar
Although wildfires are a healthy part of many ecosystems in the Intermountain West, the risk from catastrophic wildfires continues to increase in communities like Park City. Years of fire suppression, coupled with a hotter and drier climate and the continued development of subdivisions close to forestlands, presents the difficult challenge of trying to protect communities while also managing fire in a way that does not exacerbate climate change.
In 2019, Park City was among eight communities to recently receive a Leader in Community Resilience Program award from the National League of Cities (NLC). The award will support the city’s work in developing a biochar program to reduce excess forest fire fuels such as brush and wood debris, and return that carbon to Park City's soils.
Biochar is a charcoal-like material that can be used in carbon sequestration efforts. It is made by burning the excess forest fuels in an oxygen-free environment. Biochar is rich in carbon and in this case, will be collected from defensible spaces, that is the natural or landscaped area around a structure that is maintained and designed to reduce fire danger. Park City held a public demonstration in May 2019 to teach the public about how biochar is made, where it can be used on the landscape, and how it can reduce fire danger locally.
The forests surrounding most structures in the community contain a lot of poor-quality lumber that has the potential to be turned into biochar. This biochar, in turn, can be applied to farm fields and open spaces.