The state police plan to revert to their former call-taking/dispatching scheme, returning all call-taking functions and emergency dispatching operations to their individual barracks in the western and eastern sections of the state.

In this region, that means that call-taking and emergency dispatching functions will return to the state police’s Troop A barracks at 90 Lakeside Road in Southbury, near Exit 14 of Interstate 84.

In 2012, in western Connecticut, state police began consolidating the dispatching services for Troop A in Southbury, Troop B in Canaan, and Troop L in Litchfield at Troop L in Litchfield. The state undertook the measure for efficiency.

A similar consolidation later took place among the four state police barracks in eastern Connecticut, consolidating at the Tolland barracks all the call-taking/dispatching that had occurred at barracks in Tolland, Danielson, Colchester, and Montville.

The consolidation project never affected the state police barracks at Hartford, Bethany, Westbrook, and Bridgeport.

The call-taking/dispatching consolidation drew fire from rank-and-file state troopers who said that such a change would compromise public safety, adversely affecting their response time to emergencies.

Reverting to the former call-taking/dispatching system follows a review of the effectiveness of consolidation by Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora B. Schriro.

Reinstating dispatching and call-taking functions at the individual barracks will occur starting in July.

“Our state police troops are critical to the communities they serve and this plan will yield optimal operational efficiencies at every troop,” Ms Schriro said in a May 18 statement.

“These adjustments, coupled with the previous improvements that we put into place, will significantly enhance our dispatch operations. The troops, their towns, local leaders, and our stakeholders all contributed to the development of this plan,” she said.

Shifting the call-taking/dispatching back to individual barracks will coincide with the installation of the state’s new next-generation 911 system.

In 2014, as part of an initial review of dispatching consolidation, Ms Schriro ordered the restoration of 24/7 coverage at all state police barracks, keeping those barracks open and accessible to the public around the clock. The initial review also redirected administrative calls that are not urgent in nature to the local troops for individualized attention.

The call-taking/dispatching consolidation project began in 2012 under Ms Schriro’s predecessor, commissioner Reuben Bradford.