A proposal to outsource the work of the Police Department’s 10-member dispatch unit was rejected by the City Council today. The plan had been put forward as part of a larger strategy for reducing the city’s employee count while cutting expenses a targeted 10.9 percent.
By contracting with the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office to handle emergency calls and the dispatching of police officers, the city would have saved an estimated $85,000, but only after the first year. In the initial year, the expense of the conversion would actually have cost the city more than the $560,000 a year it now spends to staff and operate the dispatch unit.
“This is a false economy,” said Mayor Craig Fletcher.
In the end, the Council unanimously agreed the savings would not be worth losing control of dispatch. The Police Department’s quick response times, many have argued, are a critical factor in public safety.
The Council also restored $4,700 in funding for the D.A.R.E. and crime prevention programs. It let stand the elimination of the animal control officer’s position and three other civilian positions .
Indian River Guardian 
Unfortunately not enough people understand that outsourcing is always a false economy. The only time that outsourcing makes any fiscal sense is for non-recurring tasks that need to be done to meet a targeted deadline. A prime example of such a task would be clean up after a hurricane.
All too often the limited government folks are penny wise and pound foolish.