Ross Co. Sheriff says county’s 9-1-1 system needs upgrading

ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — Ross County Sheriff George Lavender asked county officials Monday to upgrade the 9-1-1 system.

Last month citizens experienced problems with the 9-1-1 call system in Ross County. Many residents either could not get through to dispatchers or their call was dropped. This outage primarily affected cell phone users, officials said.

Lieutenant Larry Bamfield told the Ross County Board of Commissioners, “Our selective router was purchased in August 2008, and our current 9-1-1 work stations were purchased in November 2014. Industry-standard is five years, you’re supposed to update.”

Lavender said that the state will begin managing the 9-1-1 system in the next few years, but until that time the current system needs to be updated.

The Sheriff continued to say that the necessary upgrades to the system will cost nearly $500,000.