This committee is led by the police chief, fire chief, and emergency management director – all heads of the departments that deal with public safety. It is currently going through a transition that may include a couple of residents appointed by the Select Board.
The 24-hour Dispatch Committee is responsible for the communications infrastructure for Royalston’s public safety organizations including the PD, the FD, the DPW and Emergency Management. This committee manages the budget items relating to this infrastructure and continuously monitors the systems to find ways to improve the system while reducing costs.
| Chair: | Jim Barclay |
| Clerk: | |
| Members: | Chief Curtis Deveneau Chief Keith Newton EMD Jim Barclay (Chair) |
Currently the Royalston police and fire departments are dispatched by the Massachusetts State Police out of Shelburne Falls. As these departments have grown and become more active this has become somewhat inefficient. Given the current workload working with neighboring communities through mutual aid arrangements has become almost mandatory. The current primary project for this committee is to establish a Royalston public safety infrastructure, with our own radio frequencies, and to move our dispatch center from Shelburne Falls to Winchendon. The tower located on Jacob’s ridge on Warwick Road will become a key part of this new infrastructure.