Winchester 911 Center Awarded Grant for Upgrade

In Winchester, the system is old and needs to be updated.

But there is good news; the city has been awarded a grant to upgrade its system.

Equipment in the Winchester 911 Dispatch Center is more than 20-years-old.

Normally, Winchester has four 911 systems but right now, one is broken and the parts cannot be ordered to fix it because they are not made anymore.

The center has been awarded a $140 thousand dollar grant to replace the current system.

Winchester police said the Commercial Mobile Radio System board awards the grant every year to dispatch centers within Kentucky.

Officers said Winchester got the money because of the aging system.

The new equipment will be installed throughout this year and will make the call center more efficient.
 
The current communications center will become a remote 911 station with two host sites in Madisonville and Pikeville but dispatchers said there will be no delays in calls.
 
“When they dial 911 they won’t notice any difference,” said Capt. Shannon Stone with the Winchester Police.  “We will still be able to answer the calls; we’ll just have newer equipment.  We will have more advanced equipment and so with all that it will just be better quality service for everyone.”