App State's decision to begin receiving 911 calls receives pushback from local safety officials

Appalachian State University is planning to launch its own 911 dispatch center. The move comes as a surprise to Boone officials who spent years consolidating emergency services between the town and county. It's raising tensions and questions over the emergency response implications for local residents.

App State is in the process of constructing its own communications network which it plans to own and operate. Officials there declined interview requests for this story. In a written response, their stated goal is to respond directly to on-campus calls using AT&T technology that targets caller locations using geographic information system, or (GIS) mapping, with an accuracy rate of 90-95%.

Boone Chief of Police Andy LeBeau says the campus decision to go it alone was completely unexpected. In past meetings with town officials and emergency responders, no issues were raised by their App State counterparts. LeBeau says the technology the university is considering is not always able to detect exact 911 caller locations.

"The concern is that emergency calls from the area surrounding the university would get diverted to a campus police department 911 center and then have to be transferred to the county 911 center," says LeBeau.

Watauga County Emergency Services Director Will Holt says he first found out about App State’s intentions when one of the school’s technicians just happened to mention it during a routine maintenance call.

"This is bad for everyone," he says. "This is bad for the town, the county, and the university. It will delay access to medical care — especially with the wireless side. You know a lot of the issues that we saw before the consolidation of the town and county will be even more magnified now because it’s such a tight geographic area."

Campus officials including Chancellor Sheri Everts have received letters of objection from local business leaders, and a joint resolution condemning the school’s dissolution of consolidated 911 services signed by town and county officials. Meanwhile, App State is currently developing infrastructure, and fiber-optic networks for the new 911 call system. The university hopes to begin receiving on-campus calls in the fall.