In order to most effectively make a decision, one needs to understand the current dispatch operations, their impact on the budget, and the impact of making changes.
So, what happens when you make a 911 call? The short answer is...it depends. City Fire and Police Departments each man their own dispatch centers. The Fire Department has 2 full time dispatchers and a host of part time individuals. The Police Department has three full time dispatch staff and also relies heavily on part time help. Full time dispatchers work Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) with the rest of the coverage maintained by part time staff.
Back to the original question...when a caller dials 911, what happens? As noted, it depends:
- Cell calls: All cell phone calls made within the City of Geneva are received by the Ontario or Seneca County Dispatch Center, depending on the location of origination of the call. The call taker at the County then takes the caller information and transfers to the respective department dispatch.
- Land Line calls: These calls are taken by the Geneva Fire Department. If calls are for fire service, the dispatcher immediately sounds the appropriate monitors and service is engaged. If calls are for police service, the Fire dispatcher transfers the caller to the Police dispatcher, who then dispatches the call. In the event that the call goes unanswered after 15 rings due to excess volume in the City, the call is rerouted to Ontario County who seeks an alternate dispatch method.
The Police and Fire departments also maintain land lines that many Geneva residents utilize in place of 911 service. The land lines dial direct to the respective department.
Staff has evaluated two options for cost reductions. Currently, the City expends over $400,000 between police and fire dispatch. In order to obtain savings, the City is evaluating the following alternatives:
- Countywide Consolidation: As noted, Ontario County provides a dispatch service, and recently upgraded 911 facilities. They have extended an offer to the City to provide dispatch services. The City must evaluate the level of service to be provided and determine whether it is a comparable service to our current operation, or whether any reduction in service jeopardizes public safety. Key decision makers must also evaluate what portion of dispatch costs can be eliminated through Countywide consolidation and decide whether this savings compensates for any service reduction.
- Local Consolidation: The provision of two separate dispatch services obviously contributes to increased cost. Staff is evaluating a model in which the two operations are combined to a single site. This would most likely occur at or in the same building as one of the existing dispatch locations. Challenges exist for consolidation at either location. Offenders who are arrested during evening hours are detained at the City's Public Safety Building (the site of the current police dispatch operation) prior to arraignment, which typically occurs the following morning. State Code requires that inmates remain under physical (video link not permitted) observation for the duration of their detainment. Staff would either need to develop an overnight arraingment arrangement, or locate dispatch at the site of current police dispatch operations. Relocation from the Fire Department requires rerouting telecommunications equipment, including radios, 911 base, and the City's pullbox base. Early estimates indicate this could be very expensive.
This will most certainly be a topic of discussion as City Council and staff evaluate rising costs and stagnant revenue production into 2012.
I think that this post makes a very strong case for calling this service a duplication.
ReplyDeleteI frankly do not think that the system is made more effective because the dispatcher is "intimately familiar with City streets, and even individual properties". What makes it efficient is the dispatcher getting the correct information and passing that information to the police/fire/ambulance responding to the call.
As noted in the post, many calls come from cell phones and those calls bypass Geneva and go either to Ontario or Seneca county where "the call taker at the County then takes the caller information and transfers to the respective department dispatch".
Many people are getting away from land lines so more and more of the emergency calls are going directly to the county now and I would think that this number will grow. Many that still have land lines are calling the police or fire departments directly, again, not using the Geneva service.
Of the two solutions that are offered , I think that the least attractive is the local consolidation. Neither the Public safety Building nor the Fire House have the room for police and fire dispatch plus the over night cell. And there are the relocation expenses to be considered. Frankly, the local relocation would be an expense that the city can ill afford at this time.
At the end of the day, I think that the most logical and cost effective solution is for the city to take advantage of services that are offered by the county and already paid for in the county tax.