Illinois State Police officials respond to communications consolidation critics | News

Illinois State Police officials responded today to public concerns regarding the proposed ISP communications consolidation plans.

ISP currently houses 20 communications centers, and the new plan will consolidate to four.  The selected centers, Chicago, Springfield, DuQuoin and Sterling, are newer centers and have been selected as sites capable of handling ISP traffic from neighboring districts across the state.

Phase one of the plan includes consolidating Effingham (12), Carmi (19), and Ullin (22) into DuQuoin Center (13), but does not include Collinsville (11), or Litchfield (18).

ISP Officials have maintained that no pubic safety will be compromised and citizens will continue to receive the same level of public safety service.

"The plan also enhances public safety for officers with newer technology and greater flexibility," states a news release issued Thursday afternoon. 

“More than ever, law enforcement agencies across the country are being challenged to do more with less and must also consider the safety of their officers and the citizens they serve,” said ISP Director Hiram Grau.   “This plan will add greater technology and efficiency to our overall public safety mission by providing real time information to dispatch operations,” he stressed.

Officials also distinguished ISP communications centers from local 911 emergency operations centers. ISP Communications Centers are separate from local police agencies and there will be no impact to local agencies’ 911 emergency operations.

"ISP will be able to locate its sworn officers in real time when pending calls for service are dispatched," the release stated.  "Dispatching and communications capability will be greatly improved with GPS technology that can pinpoint the location of an officer.  Citizens will continue to receive the same level of public safety service."