Wasilla gets new police chief

Wasilla city officials announced Wednesday that they had hired a retired Alaska State Trooper captain to be the city's new police chief and created a new job for Wasilla's former police chief.

The new police chief, Don Savage, served in the Mat-Su area for 15 out of his 27 years as a trooper. Wasilla's former chief, Charlie Fannon, will now serve as coordinator for a new emergency dispatch center.

The city council recently approved $60,518 from the city's general fund to pay for the new dispatch center project.

Wasilla Deputy Administrator John Cramer said that money covered the cost of the project for the rest of the fiscal 2002 budget year, which ends next June. Fannon's salary won't change -- he makes $70,000 per year, according to Cramer, who said Savage was hired on at $60,000 per year.

Fannon's new job is to coordinate the start-up of a new Valley dispatch center, which could serve not just Wasilla Police, but other area public safety departments as well. Fannon has already been contacting potential partners for the dispatch center, according to a city of Wasilla press release.

Currently, Wasilla police, Palmer police, Matanuska-Susitna Borough fire and ambulance services, and city of Houston emergency services all use a dispatch center run by the city of Palmer. The Palmer dispatch serves the other users by collecting fees, as will Wasilla's new dispatch center.

"I'm grateful to use my past experience in emergency dispatch," Fannon said, "I can take on this specialized dispatch project as I wind up my career in law enforcement."

Cramer said there is potential for the new center to improve on the current system, with digital-age bells and whistles such as GPS locations on-screen both in vehicles and at the center, and more channels for major disaster coordination. Cramer also said the new dispatch center may include even more partners, such as Alaska State Parks, State Forestry, and the Native Village of Chickaloon.

Fannon will meet with potential partners to discuss their needs, shop for appropriate technology and target federal and state grants. Wasilla has already requested a $1.6-million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for the dispatch center.

Cramer said Wasilla needed a new chief because Fannon wouldn't be able to get the regional dispatch ball rolling and act as chief at the same time.

"There's no way a chief would have the time to do that," Cramer said.