Eastern Michigan University’s Department of Public Safety is in the middle of a top-to-bottom remodel of its 24-hour dispatch center, a project the department calls long overdue and central to keeping campus safe.
“The [dispatch] room is really the nucleus in the beginning of the public safety process,” Police Chief Matthew Lige said. “It’s staffed by very talented people, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we leverage technology with human interaction to provide safety across campus."
The center had been running on what Lige described as dated technology and furniture for years.
“It worked, but it was becoming inefficient, and those inefficiencies were starting to show,” Lige said. Power outages and surges caused regular system failures, and outdated equipment meant problems weren’t always caught before they mattered.
The final straw fell when the department exercised a routine test of tornado sirens, and only four of seven sirens sounded.
“We had a breakdown in technology because the technology was dated and we didn’t test it as frequently,” Lige said. “Now we test technology all the time, and we have upgraded those systems.”
That test, along with mounting glitches, pushed the timeline forward.
The renovation was one of the first public safety issues raised with university President Brendan Kelly.
“This was a moment in time where President Kelly recognized the value of public safety on this campus and wanted to make sure we have the tools we need to make campus as safe as he can,” Lige said.
The department estimates the project will cost somewhere between $150,000 and $175,000 in general fund spending.
Beyond new furniture and screens, the redesign also changes how the dispatchers actually work. Consoles are being reconfigured so two dispatchers can operate with more autonomy while still working with each other during an emergency.
Upgraded services are expected to make every system in the room run more smoothly: cameras, radio, alarms and calls.
Dispatchers also monitor Eagle Ready and App Armor security alerts as well as Zero Eyes, an AI camera system that flags potential weapons before routing footage to a separate operations center for human confirmation.
“It is a nice secondary level of verification for us,” dispatch supervisor Kyle Snyder said. “So we are not just immediately jumping to the worst conclusion when it isn’t something it needs to be.”
The center also fields all campus 911 and administrative calls, complete with cell-phone location mapping, and connects to the statewide Michigan Public Safety Communications System, which dispatchers said lets them reach agencies anywhere in Michigan.
A separate but related renovation is underway one workstation at a time: the department has expanded from two dispatch positions to three, though the third is waiting on new 911 technology until it’s fully operational.
