Grand Jury Grand Jury Report and Response Packet 1 message

Response time data for fire departments in Santa Cruz County is challenging to obtain. Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 previously reported response time data in their annual reports, but did not do so in the 2018 or 2019 annual reports. AGREE ..X PARTIALLY DISAGREE - explain the disputed portion _ DISAGREE -explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): For a few years we included some data that showed response times for one particular type of fire call: Confirmed Structure Fire. This call type is when the dispatcher has confirmed that there is, in fact, a structure actively on fire. These types of calls are a small portion of all calls for service that fire agencies respond to. The data shown was used to indicate what portion of the total response time (from the time the 9-1-1 call is answered until the time the first unit arrives on scene) was attributed to the actions of Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 (SCR9-1-1) dispatchers. Recently we decided to remove this chart as our Annual Report is a reflection of the work SCR9-1-1 dispatchers do and not necessarily a report to provide data on responding agencies. We believe each fire agency should be responsible for deciding if they wish to publish their response data. We do not concur with the statement above "Response time data for fire departments in Santa Cruz County is challenging to obtain" as that data is readily available via our reporting, upon request. To my knowledge, SCR9-1-1 did not receive a request for this data.

There are only approximately 17,000 accounts for the Santa Cruz County opt-in CodeRED™ emergency system, which implies that a significant portion of the County may not receive emergency alert messages, which potentially reduces residents' opportunity to take action in a timely, life-saving manner. AGREE _ PARTIALLY DISAGREE - explain the disputed portion .X. DISAGREE -explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): CodeRed is the third "reverse 9-1-1" system that SCR9-1-1 has used in our history dating back to the early 2000's. Each of the previous systems needed to be replaced due to age and newer technologies available. Each of these proprietary systems will not make their data available to their competitors therefore, each time we upgrade systems, we need to gather subscriber data from scratch. Furthermore, cellular companies will not provide/nor sell their customer's data, so obtaining cellular data must be by self-registration, as opposed to ATT wtlich sells landline data to us on a quarterly basis. Your estimate of "17,000 accounts" is inaccurate as that figure is registered cellular accounts only. Total accounts for phone numbers, which include landline, VOiP, and cellular devises is 161,046. Furthermore, CodeRed has an app that can be installed on smart phones and does not require self-registration. This app will work in any jurisdiction in the United States that has CodeRed, therefore, if you are an out of town guest in Santa Cruz County and have CodeRed on your phone, you would get the emergency notification if you were within the geofenced area to be notified. It is unknown how many CodeRed apps are within SC County at any given moment. Furthermore, SCR9-1-1 has obtained and is licensed by the FCC to issue Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). These alerts are regulated by the FCC and can only be used for "Immanent threat to life" situations. There is nothing a citizen needs to do to receive a WEA This technology is commonly used for AMBER Alert notification, which many people have previously received. SC County has only issued two WEA's since SCR9- 1-1 obtained the capability. That was earlier this year to reinforce the "shelter in place" order. In the event of a wildfire that required immediate evacuations, a WEA would be issued. This alert would be received by nearly 100% of the smart phones in the geographic area.