[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRATULATING NORTHWEST BERGEN CENTRAL DISPATCH ON ACCREDITATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 11, 1999

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Northwest 
Bergen Central Dispatch center on becoming the first public safety 
communications facility in the nation to receive the prestigious new 
Certificate of Public Safety Communications Accreditation from the 
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. This 
accreditation is national recognition of the highly professional 
standards employed at NBCD. The fact that it is the first facility in 
the nation to receive this rating is a special honor for this team of 
life-saving public safety professionals.
  Police, fire and ambulance services--with the life-saving assistance 
they bring--are an essential part of our daily lives. And when those 
services are needed, they are always needed immediately. That is why it 
is vitally important that public safety agencies have communications 
facilities that are efficient and reliable. When a citizen makes a 911 
call in an emergency, that call absolutely must go through, be answered 
and be responded to appropriately--with exceptions or excuses. With a 
facility like NBCD, residents of northwestern Bergen County can rest 
assured that will be the case.
  Established in 1994, NBCD provides 911 and general public safety 
communications services for the municipalities of Ridgewood, Glen Rock, 
Franklin Lakes, Ramsey and Oakland in Bergen County, New Jersey. The 
communications center is located in Ridgewood and features a computer-
aided dispatch system, touch-screen radios and an enhanced 911 system. 
Laptop computers are being installed in police, fire and ambulance 
vehicles to better link them with dispatchers. The nine full-time and 
15 part-time employees work in a modern, four-position communications 
room. Administrative offices, training and meeting areas, equipment 
rooms and support facilities complete the center. The entire facility 
is equipped with emergency electrical generators to keep it operating 
in the event of power failure. The center currently handles more than 
125,000 telephone calls annually. It was designed with expansion in 
mind and could be enlarged to handle additional services or 
municipalities.
  The goal of accreditation is to improve the delivery of public safety 
services, to improve the communications services that assist public 
safety officers, and to offer standards by which organizations' 
effectiveness and efficiency can be objectively reviewed and improved. 
To receive accreditation, NBCD had to comply with more than 200 
standards set by the commission. A team of commission officials visited 
the site to verify compliance. In the team's report, officials said, 
``Northwest Bergen Central Dispatch has set the benchmark by which 
communications centers across the United States * * * must now be 
measured.''
  Special recognition is in order for NBCD Manager Robert Greenlaw and 
his dispatchers for their dedication and hard work. Public safety 
dispatchers are the public's first contact with the police, fire 
department or ambulance service in time of emergency. They must possess 
the ability to remain calm and reassuring while rapidly evaluating the 
situation and directing help.
  Police officers, firefighters and ambulance workers are justifiably 
known to and given credit by the public. But almost every emergency 
call begins with a 911 call to a communications dispatch center. 
Without these hard-working, highly trained and dedicated men and women, 
our streets would not be as safe as they are today. I ask my colleagues 
in the House of Representatives to join me in congratulating 
Northwestern Bergen Central Dispatch on achieving this accreditation, 
and on the hard work it took to meet the standards involved.

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