East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, Capt. Jeff Murphy said since the ELPD combined its dispatch office with others in Ingham County, there have been minor issues with response time or dispatchers unfamiliar with places in East Lansing.

He provided the example of a dispatcher who might have always handled 911 calls in the Lansing area receiving a phone call about an accident in a parking lot of a common East Lansing business and not knowing the surrounding streets off the top of his or her head, consequently causing minor delays in response time.

But those issues have not affected response times in any serious incidents, and they have been working to address those issues over the phone since the Ingham County Consolidated 911 Dispatch Center opened at the end of June, Murphy said.

Now that the task force has been created, Murphy said East Lansing and Lansing police will meet in person in a more formal setting to discuss minor dispatch issues.

East Lansing and Lansing Fire Chief Randy Talifarro will lead the task force, according to the release.

“Our citizens can rest assured that when they call 911, their call will be answered quickly and the appropriate first responders will be sent to the scene immediately,” Bernero said in the release.

“The small number of instances where an unnecessary delay has occurred are being thoroughly investigated, and whatever is found to have caused the delay will be diagnosed and fixed.”