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ST. JOSEPH — A new era in public safety communications could be on the horizon where Berrien County police cars, fire trucks and ambulances have mobile communication units in their vehicles to better respond to emergencies.

      9-1-1 Director Caitlin Sampsell and Information Systems Director Chris Swihart reported on the project to Berrien County Commissioners Thursday morning. They are currently seeking local, county and state support to get the program up and running as soon as possible.

      Sampsell said a committee made up of county officials and representatives from area law enforcement and fire service agencies have been studying the need for Computer Aided Dispatch mobility units to be available to those responding to public safety incidents.

      She said the committee’s goals were to determine the technical infrastructure needs of putting the program in place and the level of funding support from the county and local agencies. The committee has also met with area state legislators to see if state funding would be available.

      She said the program would allow first responders to have mobile units in their vehicles so they can better and more safely track emergency calls and responses. First responders would be able to see maps showing the location of an incident, what’s needed, who’s on scene and who’s coming.

The mobile units would allow for better planning and providing of services, she said. First responders would be able to see notes and alerts posted by others en route or on scene and get information about suspects in law enforcement situations. She noted that some fire departments use Google mapping which isn’t as accurate as county information.

In terms of notifications, Sampsell said that they could be for anything from “BOLOs” or “be on the lookout” alerts to information about stolen vehicles and missing persons. The system would also allow for documents and photos to be attached and available to all those responding.

Sampsell said the first year cost for establishing the program has been estimated to be just under $600,000 at $596,650. Memorandums of understanding are being developed to ask local entities to pledge their support and the county will also be asked to provide funding.

She said there are a total of 20 police and 30 fire/emergency service agencies in the county.

She and County Administrator Brian Dissette said they have been meeting as well with state legislators to consider providing funding. They said that there has been talk about creating a public safety trust fund to provide monies for these types of projects.

“I want ot compliment these two (Sampsell and Swihart),” Dissette said. “They’ve made a real effort to sell this to legislators. It is budget season when legislators look for creative projects and this is the definition of creativity. We’re just trying to make sure they are keenly aware of this project.”

The county board will not meet next Thursday due to the July Fourth holiday and then will have a night meeting July 10 at 6 p.m. at the Watervliet Township Hall.