Increase in dedicated 999 staff in control centre
A GREATER number of operators will be solely dedicated to answering 999 calls under Guernsey's new joint emergency services control centre.
The Home Department has announced that the same number of operator positions – a total of 20 – would be maintained under the new set-up at the police station, but it intended to scrap the current arrangement that sees five police constables hold dual roles in the control room as well.
These officers will be redeployed within the force and all the staff in the new control room would be 100% 'dedicated' control room staff.
The department said the current control room operators had been given the opportunity to apply for posts within the new joint centre.
Most chose to do so and will move to the new control centre, but Home said it was unable to give exact figures at this stage.
'While additional staff are being recruited to fill control centre positions, headcount when viewed across the emergency services will not increase,' said a Home spokesman.
'Police constables currently performing the role will provide additional support during the implementation stage, before being redeployed to other police duties.'
