Pascagoula 911 dispatch receives new camera gear

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WLOX) - Danielle Price is approaching five years as a 911 dispatcher for the Pascagoula Police Department. She knows what it takes to do this very difficult job. And when something comes along that makes it a little easier, it’s hard to hide her excitement.

“It’s there, you can see everything,” Price said, pointing to newly installed surveillance monitors. “We can see all the busy places of Pascagoula, the traffic and everything like that. So we can watch if crimes are being committed.”

Before the new monitors, Price said they relied on one tv monitor for all cameras in the city.

“We had all these cameras on this one single screen like that and couldn’t see anything,” said Price. “With switching, it would lag for being a small tv.”

The $74,000 in new equipment comes from forfeiture and seizure operations. Pascagoula Police Chief Matt Chapman went directly to the dispatchers for ideas on how to use the funds.

“He came in here and asked us if we wanted specific things,” said Price. “He asked us each if we could have something that we want. He asked us our opinions throughout the entire process like, ‘Hey, do you like it like this?’ So, it was nice to be included.”

The equipment has already made a difference after being used to locate a drowning victim in the city.

“We were able to rewind our cameras and were able to see him. I guess he had lost his boat and went swimming out to it, but didn’t make it to the boat,” said Price. “So we were able to figure out what happened.”

Price said the equipment will help her and her colleagues perform their jobs with greater ease.

“With a screen like this, it’s much much easier to see,” said Price.

Pascagoula Police have another big safety improvement in the works. Plans are underway for a new substation at Chicot Road and Old Mobile Avenue.

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