This guest post was submitted by Karl Walko, the president of CWA Local 1014: 

On February 10, at the behest of the City administration, Camden City Council took the first step towards privatization of 911/police dispatch services for the City and its residents. At its monthly meeting, Council authorized a request for proposals (RFP) from private corporations to perform this essential public safety role. This differs profoundly from the replacement of the City Police Department with the County Metro Division since dispatch services would no longer be performed by public workers but instead by employees of a private for-profit corporation. Fundamentally, those responding to the RFP will seek to maximize the income of their owners and NOT the safety of the public.

Community, faith, and labor speaking out for the Contract for Camden and against the privatization of 25 Emergency Dispatchers who are CWA members in the City of Camden.

While City officials insist that no decision has been made on privatization and that they are only exploring options, it is clear these same officials have determined that the use of a for-profit corporation for this purpose should not be ruled out. And at the Council meeting, they clearly stated their principal objective is to explore potential savings. Lurking in the background of this determination is the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), without whose approval the RFP could never have been authorized. Because of the need for state financial assistance, the City has long needed approval by the DCA when considering budgetary issues. Clearly, privatization fits into the ambitions of Governor Christie and his effort to position himself as anti-government worker/pro-business leading into the presidential primaries.

While privatization may fit the needs of a few, privatizing City dispatch services is an experiment with public safety whose detrimental consequences can be predicted. It is certain the City will lose the experience and professionalism of current dispatchers who suffered through an extremely difficult period of time in an extremely stressful job. Despite severe cuts in dispatch staffing, the transition to the Metro Division and the constant recognition that their jobs were threatened, their concern for the City and its residents as well as the police officers they assisted has endured. Almost all of them are products of the City whose roots go deep. They reflect the City’s cultural diversity and can identify with the experiences and frustrations of callers. Almost all have more than ten years’ experience serving the City. And yes, they receive reasonable compensation for their services and are part of the now shrinking middle class.

Corporate dispatchers would be significantly less experienced; significantly less connected to the City and much less likely to reflect the diversity of the community. Because reducing costs is the goal, corporate dispatchers will be compensated the minimum possible. While it is certain that a corporation will want to retain a number of the dispatchers (at least until they exploited their experience), these will not be “career” jobs. Many current dispatchers are unlikely to accept the jobs and turnover would be far higher than it now is. And significantly, money that remains local when paid to middle class public workers would flow to distant wealthy corporate owners.

The Communications Workers of America, representing the current dispatchers, opposes the privatization option for all the reasons listed above. There is another and better option. Almost every other municipality in Camden County uses the County’s police dispatch services. The County services are paid for through the County tax levy and not through an assessment to municipalities paid for through municipal budgets. The County currently provides the City with dispatch service for fire and ambulance emergencies. What could make more sense than to transition City dispatch services to the County (especially now that Camden County provides police services in the City) and offer all the current dispatchers positions with the County taking advantage of their experience? This is not a new idea and has been discussed by City and County officials since the Metro Division was established. The discussion should move to action. Now is the time to move this transition forward. It is not the time to launch a faulty experiment risking public safety while shrinking the middle class and sending money out of the community.

Tags: police, privatization, unions