NEW CASTLE COUNTY IS ONE OF THREE COUNTIES IN DELAWARE AND HAS A POPULATION OF APPROXIMATELY 400,00 PEOPLE IN AN URBANIZED AREA COVERING 440 SQUARE MILES. THE COUNTY DEPARTMENTS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUBLIC SAFETY PROPOSE TO IMPROVE THEIR SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTY BY CENTRALIZING SOME OF THE EMERGENCY CALL RECEPTION AND DISPATCHING FUNCTIONS. THE COUNTY AND STATE POLICE HAVE ALREADY FORMED A REGIONAL EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER (RECOM), WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCEPTING EMERGENCY CALLS AND DISPATCHING THE NEAREST AVAILABLE POLICE UNIT. THE COUNTY FIRE BOARD, ANOTHER UNIT IMPLEMENTED SEVERAL YEARS AGO, RECEIVES EMERGENCY CALLS FOR FIRE AND AMBULANCE ASSISTANCE AND DISPATCHES EQUIPMENT FROM 21 OF THE 22 DEPARTMENTS IN THE COUNTY. A 911 COMMON TELEPHONE NUMBER PLAN HAS BEEN DEVELOPED IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE COORDINATION OF THESE SERVICES. THE 911 COMMUNICATIONS CENTER PROPOSAL IS REVIEWED, AS IS THE DRAFT COPY OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), AND COMMENTS, ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO ASSIST THE COUNTY IN ITS COMMUNICATIONS PURCHASES ARE PROVIDED. RECOM AND COUNTY FIRE BOARD EQUIPMENT AND FUNCTIONS WERE REVIEWED TO PROVIDE BACKGROUND FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE RFP; THE WILMINGTON POLICE AND FIRE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER WAS ALSO REVIEWED FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION. AFTER REVIEW OF THE DATA COLLECTED ON THESE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 911 COMMON TELEPHONE WITHIN A NEW COMMUNICATIONS CENTER WILL GREATLY IMPROVE THE EMERGENCY SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTY, ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE EQUIPMENT TO BE INCORPORATED IN THE SYSTEM IS IN NEED OF UPDATING IN ORDER TO PERFORM THE REQUIRED SERVICES. A FIGURE OUTLINING THE BASIC CONCEPT OF THE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER IS INCLUDED. APPENDIXES CONTAINING COPIES OF THE 911 PROPOSAL AND OF THE DRAFT RFP, AND OVERVIEWING THE PURPOSES, FUNCTIONS, AND JURISDICTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF RECOM ARE PROVIDED. (KBL)