DeSoto 911 administrator suggests policy changes

MANSFIELD — Three weeks on the job, DeSoto 911 Administrator Bruce Vanderhoeven has suggested several policy changes and additional plans to spruce up and remodel the office.

During a meeting late Tuesday afternoon, the Board of Commissioners approved Vanderhoeven’s suggestion to tighten the policy on bereavement leave, set a spending limit of $300 for the administrator and approve the low bid of $1,197 from Spectrum Painting of Stonewall to repaint the office. Plans will be forthcoming on remodeling plans for the dispatch area.

Commissioners also approved Vanderhoeven’s recommendation to switch the office’s electronic service vendor from a Shreveport company to Strategic Technology, owned by Mike Duvall of Mansfield. Vanderhoeven said the representative of the Shreveport company had not responded promptly to requests for service and on two occasions had “recklessly handled the truth.”

Duvall already had lent a hand with some problems at the office without charging for his service. His service fee of $125 a month will save the board $3,300 annually, Vanderhoeven said.

The 911 system is three or four months away from implementation of the second phase of a system upgrade that will allow cellular phone calls to be pinpointed on a computer screen using the phones’ global positioning system, Vanderhoeven announced.


Source: shreveporttimes.com