El Paso County takes over Fountain dispatch duties to help improve response time

El Paso County is taking over all dispatch duties for the city of Fountain with the goal of reducing response time for people living in Fountain.

Minutes matter most in the El Paso County dispatch center.

“They’ve been very responsive, very quick and definitely helped with responding to me,” said Megan Turner.

It’s been a different story in the city of Fountain.

“We found in the past that at times when people would call 911, they could get directed to one center but not the appropriate center, which would require the call to be transferred and the process to be started all over again,” said El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder.

In an effort to not duplicate services and save time, El Paso County took over. Some question if it will be a strain on resources for callers in Colorado Springs.

“The only question I’d have is would Fountain help El Paso County with the dispatching as well,” said Jerad Schenbri.

Sheriff Eder said it won’t be an issue because all the Fountain dispatchers are working together at the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office as one team.

“Now w’ere just one big agency that incorporates their dispatching as well. We also do the same thing for Manitou, Monument and Calhan,” Elder said.

Elder has pushed to make the change since he took office.

“During my campaign this was my number one campaign promise that I’d be working on regionalizing communications. This is the first step, it’s a necessary step to bring Fountain communications forward,” Elder said.

A total of nine dispatchers from Fountain moved to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.