Cape May County's communications system has now replaced Sea Isle's former emergency dispatch center seen here in August 2024.
Sea Isle City on Monday switched over to Cape May County’s central communications system for emergency and nonemergency calls to its police, fire and medical services in a cost-savings move.
“Though this will be a change in our operations, it will not lead to an interruption in our service,” the Sea Isle Police Department said in a statement.
In August, City Council approved a five-year shared services agreement to join the county’s 911 communications system starting in December. The deal includes two automatic five-year renewals after the initial term, according to the agreement.
“Our primary goal has always been to provide the most effective service at the best cost. Our police department, along with all of our first responders and our citizens, rely on this service at their most critical time of need,” Mayor Leonard Desiderio said in August when the agreement was approved.
Sea Isle becomes the latest local municipality to join the county’s central communications system. The other municipalities have also cited cost savings as a major reason for switching to the county system. Previously, Sea Isle operated its own 911 dispatch system.
According to the agreement, Sea Isle will pay the county $231,000 per year for dispatch services.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that this service can be provided at an excellent level, and at a more reasonable ongoing cost, through implementation of this shared services agreement,” Desiderio said.
Desiderio and Sea Isle Police Chief Anthony Garreffi explained that the city will be able to have more of its police officers out on patrol once the city moves over to the county dispatch system.
Garreffi said the police department occasionally had to use its own officers to staff the city’s 911 system if the regular communications dispatchers were not able to work on a particular day. In doing so, it would take those officers away from their normal patrol duties, he said.
The police department can still be reached at its regular phone number of (609) 263-4311. Callers may still reach police officers by following the prompts, but all calls for service will now be directed to the county dispatch system.
Although the dispatchers are no longer working in Sea Isle, people will still be able to come to the police department at City Hall seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
There are phones that have been installed in the police department lobby that will connect directly to the county communications center, which will have an officer dispatched to meet people at City Hall if needed.
