Dispatching Services in Placer County

Recommendations 2

• R1
  All departments with the county that are part of the emergency response system. obtain and make available to the public those phone number cards previously referred to for general distribution. It is further recommended the Office of Emergency Services coordinate this effort. RESPONSE The respondent agrees with this recommendation. The City of Roseville already publishes its 7 digit direct emergency number in numerous places. It has phone stickers available with the number printed on them, City parks have the number posted on a sign at the entrance to the parks, public education columns have been printed in the local newspapers, and a news story was done on one of the local news channels several years ago regarding the use of cellular phones to dial 9-1-1.
• R2
  Placer County fire protection agencies take immediate steps to consolidate the fire emergency dispatching function to one location. This recommendation in no way is meant to suggest all fire protection units merge into one department, as that is a completely different subject. Planning by area fire officials start as soon as possible to determine technology and other resources needed. It is the Grand Jury's understanding that there is a current plan under consideration by some unit chiefs to jointly tie into one computer system, however, there is no specific plan of implementation or time frame. The population of Placer County has been projected to increase from 292,000 to nearly 337,000 by the year 2010. Planning should begin immediately and in earnest to provide the necessary level of incident response time in providing for the safety of citizens of the county, including routing of 911 calls to the local dispatch center. Much has been said in interviews the Grand Jury conducted about some district and department concern over "turf rights" being violated. The Grand Jury holds that Placer County, as one of the fastest growing county in the state, can no longer base its planning on this type of logic. Placer County should set an example of progressive leadership among county governments. RESPONSE The respondent disagrees with this recommendation. The City of Roseville currently operates its own Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and dispatches both Police and Fire Departments. Based upon customer service surveys the Citizens of Roseville are extremely pleased with the level of service they receive. Implementing a countywide fire only dispatch center would create another tier in the dispatch system. 9-1-1 calls in Roseville would still be received by the Roseville PSAP and then if determined to be a fire emergency would have to be transferred to the fire only dispatch center. This would result in needless time lost and a delay in dispatching the fire department. The City of Roseville Dispatch Center has highly trained and highly motivated employees in the Dispatch Center. It provides the highest level of Emergency 41 Medical Dispatch services to its citizens. The Dispatch Center has a current Capital Improvement Plan that will accommodate the expected growth in the City and allow the Center to replace its telephone system and keep current as technology evolves. In regards to cellular 9-1-1 phone calls, the City of Roseville is moving towards Phase II (cell 9-1-1 with GIS interface) compliance. The City has met with all the cellular providers and identified geographical territories as it pertains to cell sites. in order to accept 9-1-1 cell calls first hand. The City is working with the State of California to identify funding for the new 9-1-1 phone system which will allow for the aforementioned. Anticipation of Phase II compliancy is expected within a 12- 16 month period. Phase II compliance is expected to increase call volume by 35- 40 percent and will require additional staffing in the PSAP. The increase in call volume and the required additional staffing will be a fact for any PSAP that becomes Phase II compliant. As stated in the recommendation the Grand Jury is aware "that there is a current plan under consideration by some unit chiefs to jointly tie into one computer system, however, there is no specific plan of implementation or time frame." In fact, as explained to the Grand Jury by this agency, the implementation of the Placer County Regional Public Safety System is in process. Placer County and the City of Roseville have signed working agreements for the purchase of this computer system that will allow all dispatch agencies in the County, with the exception of the California Division of Forestry (CDF), to work on one shared computer system. The City of Auburn has chosen to use this new system for their law enforcement but not for their fire dispatch. This system is a complete public safety Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system that services both Law and Fire needs, not just a fire dispatch system. This system is anticipated to "go live" in fall of 2004. Sincerely Ken Wagner Fire Chief 42