Lynn, Swampscott receive $1M state grant for shared dispatch equipment

LYNN – The City of Lynn and Town of Swampscott announced Thursday that they received a $1 million-plus state grant for equipment that is critical to the communities’ agreement for shared emergency dispatch operations.”The key here is to provide a seamless transition to take over the 911 duties and dispatch and other services,” Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said on Thursday afternoon. “The best way to do that is with that equipment ? this is key to eliminating any kind of logistical issue because of distance between the two stations.”Lynn and Swampscott entered into a five-year agreement on May 2 to create a Regional Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) housed at the Lynn Police Station. The agreement stipulates that Lynn Police will provide 911 answering services, dispatch services and prisoner housing for the Town of Swampscott. Officials in Swampscott and Lynn said that the agreement would enable the town to share resources and be more cost-effective.But the two departments currently use different software that hinders sharing information.The $1,023,303 grant from the State 911 Department will be used to purchase a joint computer-aided dispatch/records management system, redundant fiber-optic network in both communities, wireless point-to-point links, voice recorders, mobile data terminals, as well as state-of-the-art radio systems, according to the press release.Coppinger said that this equipment is crucial because the two departments use different software for their dispatching and their criminal records that needs to be coordinated so that the information is accessible to all officers.”It enables better tracking and crime analysis; you can see where incidents occur,” said Coppinger. “And the mobile data terminals – or computers in the cruisers – they’ll be able to see that data right at their fingers. It gives us better advantages out in the street to access data.”Swampscott Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said that the grant award demonstrated not only the success of partnership in achieving funding – which was competitive – but also the benefits of the partnership in improving services.”This grant tells the story a little bit of why instead of just getting a partner in dispatching, we will be able to deliver a better product,” Maylor said on Thursday afternoon. “This is great in terms of not just funding but that it recognizes that partnership.”