The Connecticut State Police Union continues its fight against regional communications centers.
The union held a press conference outside Troop C in Tolland, which now also handles dispatch duties for Troops D, K and E.
In the past, a trooper was assigned at each barrack to answer 911 calls and dispatch help accordingly.
But, state police command has been establishing communications centers with civilian dispatchers to put those troopers back on the road. Command claims the centers make police communications more cost-effective and the public safer.
“They now took the trooper off the desk and they’ve made them an administrative trooper, that trooper is assigned inside the building, so what purpose does centralized dispatch, what did it serve? The trooper is still at the troop, not out on patrol,” union president Andrew Matthews said.