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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

Contra Costa County Grand Jury • 2024-2025

Activities Report

Published: January 01, 2026 142 pages
View PDF View Full Original

Findings 36 findings

F1 Page 30
The CWS [community warning system] is used in response to Agree emergencies in the County.
F2 Page 30
About 30% of County residents have created a CWS account Agree and entered their contact data.
F3 Page 30
The approximately 70% of residents who haven't registered with Disagree CWS may not receive alerts in the event that other alerting tools not reliant on registration in the CWS—WEA [Wireless Emergency Alerts], radios and TVs—are not activated.
F4 Page 30
Additional redundancies in the processes and operation of the Agree CWS can increase the potential for more people to receive timely alerts.
F5 Page 30
To enable the redundancy of other altering tools—sending Disagree recorded voice messages to cell and VoIP [Voice over Internet Protocol] phones, text messages, and emails—the contact data for these devices must be registered in the CWS.
F6 Page 30
Phone numbers and associated physical addresses can be Partially loaded into the CWS for all businesses and residents in the disagree County from the various telecom providers that serve the County.
F7 Page 30
In an opt-out warning system, County residents and businesses Agree that do not want phone and/or email data in the CWS can request to have their data removed.
F8 Page 30
The reliance of the CWS on voluntary registration creates a Disagree risk that too few residents will register their phones and email in CWS.
F9 Page 30
An opt-out system would incur annual costs for data Disagree subscriptions on the order of $100,000. Page A1 of 14 Compliance and Continuity Report
F10 Page 31
An opt-out system would incur an initial cost to educate Disagree residents and businesses of the CWS system change on the order of $500,000.
F11 Page 31
Outdoor warning systems supplement other warning tools Agree by providing acoustic (voice or siren sounds) to people who are indoors.
F12 Page 31
Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) can broadcast audible Agree instructions to people outdoors when cell phones and other alert-receiving devices may not be working or heard.
F13 Page 31
A sound study is needed to evaluate where, if at all, LRADs Agree might be effective in Contra Costa County.
F14 Page 31
Sites where LRADs could be located would need to be Agree identified for any areas in which LRADs are found to be effective.
F15 Page 31
The County would incur a cost for a sound study on the Agree feasibility to deploy LRADs within the County.
F16 Page 31
There is no estimate of the cost for an independent, third party Agree to conduct a feasibility study for the use of LRADs within the County.
F17 Page 31
LRADs would be part of the County's emergency response Partially warning tools. disagree
F18 Page 31
Costs related to emergency response can be funded from Agree Measure X revenue.
F19 Page 31
At all times, one of the three CWS employees is the designated Partially on-call duty officer who responds to requests for activation of disagree the CWS.
F20 Page 31
In the event of disasters such as fast-moving wildfires, a Partially reasonable time for alerts to be sent to the public is within 20 disagree minutes of when the incident commander contacts the CWS duty officer. Page A2 of 14 Compliance and Continuity Report
F21 Page 32
Once the CWS duty officer is contacted by the Sheriff's dispatch Agree center the CWS duty officer has up to 10 minutes to call the incident commander.
F22 Page 32
In the event the CWS duty officer is not reached after two Agree attempts to contact them, the dispatch center attempts to contact a backup person to the duty officer.
F23 Page 32
Additional time is required to contact CWS backup personnel Agree and have them get to a computer and establish a secure connection into the CWS.
F24 Page 32
In the event the CWS duty officer is not reached after two Agree attempts but the dispatch center to contact them, the time required to contact backup personnel to the on-call CWS duty officer is uncertain.
F25 Page 32
Reliance on a single person to operate the CWS, the on-call Partially CWS duty officer, creates a risk that alerts and notifications could disagree be delayed.
F26 Page 32
Two evacuation drills in the city of Richmond in 2022 and 2023 Disagree resulted in half of the drill participants claiming they should have received a drill alert but did not, or received the alert hours later after the drill was completed.
F27 Page 32
The CWS did not conduct any studies to verify or understand Disagree the claims Richmond evacuation drill participants made that they should have received a drill alert but did not, or received the alert hours later after the drill was completed.
F28 Page 32
The CWS is not tested to determine the extent to which people Partially actually notice, read, or hear alerts sent by the CWS. disagree
F29 Page 32
The CWS staff evaluates its systems and processes for risks. Agree
F30 Page 32
The County has not engaged a firm with expertise in risk Agree analysis of community warning systems to conduct a comprehensive risk analysis of the CWS since the County took control of the system in 2001. Page A3 of 14 Compliance and Continuity Report
F31 Page 33
The current process for improving the design and operation Agree of the CWS for alerts is not related to releases of hazardous chemicals resides within the Sheriff's Office.
F32 Page 33
There is no formal body or process that brings together Disagree emergency response agencies in the County to focus and advise solely on the design and operation of the CWS.
F33 Page 33
The functioning and effectiveness of the CWS can be improved, Disagree and operational risks reduced, with the implementation of a CWS advisory body.
F34 Page 33
The Emergency Services Policy Board can create Partially subcommittees, such as a CWS advisory committee. disagree
F35 Page 33
The CWS staff provides training materials to the fire districts, Agree fire departments, police departments, and dispatch centers in the County on the use of CWS, its tools, types of warnings, activation, and information needed by the CWS duty officer.
F36 Page 33
The CWS staff does not have a process to determine if the Partially recipients of the training it provides to first responders of the fire disagree districts/departments, police departments, and dispatch centers who receive training materials on CWS have read and understood the training materials. Page A4 of 14 Compliance and Continuity Report Table 2 Report 2402 The Contra Costa Community Warning System Will Everyone Get a Warning in Time?

Recommendations 10

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Contra Costa County County