Ocean City wants to revisit its long-held quest to handle its own 911 calls. Expectations for any changes on this front should be low.
For at least 25 years, Ocean City officials have tried to convince Worcester County to allow 911 calls originating on the island to be answered in the resort. It makes sense. Currently, if a person dials 911 from 64th Street, one block south of Ocean City’s communications center, the call first goes to Snow Hill then back to the city’s communications center for dispatching to first responders. A typical call takes about 20 seconds to get dispatched under the current system.
It doesn’t make sense from a practical or geographical standpoint, but money involved here. The finances trump the realities in this case. Worcester County does not want to give up the state funding it receives from emergency calls. If Ocean City were to field its own calls, the state funds would go to the resort. The county would still need to staff its own communications center and there are costs associated with that. The county’s position is clear and logical. The city’s desire of wanting to handle its own 911 calls is equally understandable.
As of 2015, 44% of all county 911 calls (about 95,000) originated in Ocean City. Back in 2015, County Commissioner Joe Mitrecic provided an update to the Ocean City Mayor and Council on the town’s desire to field its own sourced calls. He said at that time, “The county is not willing to give it up … I’m getting a lot of push back thus far.” Therefore, the question is: what’s different today than it was in 1997 or 2002 or 2015? In 1997, then-Commissioner Granville Trimper, a true homer for Ocean City, said, “We checked into this and found there wasn’t a pressing need to do it. … to do it just to please somebody is ridiculous. No other county in the state has two 911 systems.”
That was 22 years ago, the issue remains the same today as it was then. Even Ocean City officials acknowledge the system is working, but they do point out response times have been impacted at times. We have always supported the idea of Ocean City fielding its own calls, but practical and logical reasons are not enough in this case. The need for the funds will always win in Snow Hill.
Ocean City has two options – ask the county to share some of the state funding it receives from 911 calls or go through the legislature and try to establish its own stand-alone call center. Neither of these are healthy options, but the legislative route is the only option if the city wants to continue to push the matter. It’s an uphill battle for sure.