Brown County 911 Center director hired News-Chronicle James Nickel, a man who has years of experience designing 911 centers, has been named Brown County's director of public safety communications. He retired in 2001 as director of technology for Motorola Inc. and now works as an assistant professor of physics at Triton College in River Grove, Ill. At Motorola, he helped develop 911 centers for municipalities across the country, including the Toledo Central Fire Dispatch and the Central Dispatch for Hamilton County, Ohio. Nickel has helped counties and states improve their communications and dispatch systems. His nomination will go to the full County Board for confirmation. Brown County's 911 Center was responsible for several dispatch delays this year. The county found understaffed dispatch workers were working too many hours and with an inadequate system. The county's dispatch systems were consolidated in 2001. Former Communications Director David Tellock resigned in July during an investigation and was replaced by interim director Green Bay Police Lt. Paul Ebel. Overhires were brought in to help with the amount of calls coming to the center. Changes also were made to the types of calls going to the center. Administrative calls to the Green Bay Police Department's main number, 448-3200, were siphoned off by a voice mail system instead of going through the center.