STUDY TO REVIEW FIRE, POLICE DISPATCH PLAN.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Concerned that a plan to separate LAPD and fire dispatch centers could hinder the city's response to emergencies, the Los Angeles police and fire commissions ordered a study Tuesday to determine whether the systems can be located in one building downtown.

The Los Angeles Police Department has been working on upgrading its computer-aided dispatch center and moving it out of the basement of City Hall East, where it shares space with the Fire Department and into the police training facility in Westchester.

Currently, the dispatch centers are in the same basement as the city's emergency operations center, where the mayor and department heads coordinated the city's response to the Northridge Earthquake.

However, Fire Department officials said that if the two systems are not located in the same building, their only link would be electronic, which could be broken in the event of a major disaster, such as a large earthquake.

``I think our citizens feel they deserve the very best in terms of joint coverage of the Police and Fire Departments,'' said Fire Commissioner Elizabeth Lowe. ``I think being there together is very important.''

LAPD communications manager Linda Bunker said her office is willing to put its planned move on hold briefly while a consultant determines whether the two systems can be placed in one building across from Parker Center on San Pedro Street.

The two commissions voted to approve a contract with the DAMAS Group to determine the size of building needed and cost of placing both department's dispatch centers under the same roof.

The DAMAS consultant group previously had determined that technical and financial problems prevent the LAPD and Fire Department from sharing the same emergency dispatch systems, but that there are steps that can be taken to improve their ability to communicate with each other.

Assistant Fire Chief Tony Ennis told the commissions during their joint meeting Tuesday that it likely will cost an additional $10 million to move the fire dispatch center into a building with the LAPD center.