HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08161988 - I.O.6 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS I . 0. 6 nn,�,�}
FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE �.lLJI ILIA
August 8 , 1988 Costa
DATE* \/��"^' "J
The Need for Improvements in Staffing and
SUBJECT: Equipment at Delta Regional Communications Center
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECCMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION•
Request the DRCC Operations Committee to undertake a study of
their current staffing and equipment needs designed to address
the following questions, and report their findings and :
recommendations to our Committee on November 14, 1988 as well as
to the City Councils of Antioch, Pittsburg, and Brentwood:
1. What precisely is the nature and extent of the current
communications problem at DRCC (see attached report'
from the Office of the Sheriff-Coroner) ?
2. What is the cost of the current problem?
3 . What options are there to solve the current ,
communications problems, including the total cost of
each alternative and the cost to each affected '
jurisdiction as well as a realistic timetable for
implementing each alternative?
4. Which alternative does the Operations Committee
recommend that the County and the cities of Antioch
Pittsburg and Brentwood pursue, and what are their
reasons for their recommendation?
5 . Among the available options, would the Operations
Committee support merging DRCC physically into the
Sheriff ' s new Communications Center in Martinez? Why ,
or why not?
6. What is the cost of merging DRCC into the Sheriff ' s
Communications Center compared with other available .
options?
7. What actions are necessary in order to fully integrate
DRCC with all emergency response agencies so that, for
instance, DRCC and Consolidated Fire District are able
to communicate directly with each other.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT; X YES SIGNATURE;
_ RECOMMENDATION F COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _ RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
X APPROVE \OTHER
"OOL't
SIGNATURE(S):
Sunne W. McPeak Tom Torlakson F
ACTION OF BOARD ON August 16, 1988 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
cc: Listed on Page 2 ATTESTED
PHIL BA HELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
BY ,DEPUTY
M382/7-83
Page 2
BACKGROUND-
On June. 7, _ 1988,, at the request of Supervisor Torlakson, the-,
Board of Supervisors referred to our Committee a request that . the
Sheriff report . to our Committee. on the limitations of radio air
time at DRCC. On .August 8, 1.988 our. Committee received .and
reviewed with the Sheriff the attached report on radio congestion
at DRCC. . We also met with Bob Guaspari, Communications Manager
for the General Services Department:
As a result of this discussion, we have 'concluded' that we need a
comprehensive review . of both the problem at. DRCC and possible
solutions. There are apparently, both staffing problems- as well
as ` technical .problems with the existing equipment and we ` have,
therefore, proposed that the DRCC Operations Committee undertake '
-a study a,s ,outlined above
cc: County Administrator .
Sheriff-Coroner.
DRCC Operations Committee
City Councils : Antioch; Pittsburg, Brentwood
Director, General Services
Bob Guaspari,` Communications Manager, General SerVi:ces
Bill Maxfield, Chief, Consolidated Fire District
Sheriff-Coroner Richard K.Rainey
Contra Costa County SHERIFF-CORONER
Rupf
Communications Division Warren
Assistantt Sheriff
40 Glacier Drive Gerald T. Mitosinka
Martinez, California 94553-4895
(415)646-4463 Assistant Sheriff
Supervisor Sunne McPeak
To: Supervisor Tom Torlakson Date: July 26, 1988
Internal Operations Committee
From:Richard K. Rainey, Sheriff-Coroner Subject: Radio Congestion at DRCC
As requested I 'm providing my perspective of the law enforcement radio conges-
tion problem at DRCC. The Operations Committee may,A.submit a separate response.
3 wP
The overcrowding has been�, a conce'r'n�sinc"e they Center opened when we crossbanded
a UHF channel and a UHF �'channeli.norder to�put a1 l afour law enforcement agen-
cies on the same dispatch,,-channe] Tfie adyantag'es''of, th-i s scheme were that all
f i el d u n i is c o u 1 d hear what', each."-was doing and,,they were all under the control
of just one dispatcher.' �.Unfortunately'''the.�,ainountt -of radi o traff i c and phone
calls were so severely` underestimated that additional staff had .to be added just
to handle the initial' workload .Coup1,0-,,_#at-` with-'�„the ',rapi d increase in popu-
lation
opu-
1ation and the w,addi ti oval' and Pittsburg
and you get -a- gfiinpse of= .our Oredi camentb,.
1'
One of tlie; i tems the agend es all ;use to< reduce voice traffic on-,the,,channel is
a "Modat ',, which digitally sends ,acanned” messages (ape. ; in-service, out of
service, enroute;' � messager ,recefived) that (talk 'directly., to' /the computer.
Lamentably fo,r`%.fiscal� reasons we,, put .this �vrigh`t-' on" the ,,Voice channel which
contributes to the ,conges'tion .and many offscers�;� t`c'
nd dispahei^s find the noise
a
annoying even tKough it d r a s-t-i,c-a 1 1-Y duces voice traffic for the same
message. At the same time, the . agencies have:. ;:not ;put these in all police
vehicles so that some ;regul a'r users; especial l y,- rnotorcyc,l a units, are heavy
consumers of air time: In =,our own: agencye,we�-,have note puts "them into investi-
gation
nvesti-
gation cars, marinepatrol ;vehiches -i, cars.` than are not routinely
assigned to the Delta Station <, . Th is, ,last,. ;terncauses °considerable concern when
the G.S.D. is {unable' to routineliv! e':us .aqu.icke turn. around "on DRCC-equipped
cars which are -i-nfor service or -maintenance. ....
Unfortunately, the solutions seern.to be very limited. It was recommended by the
Operations Committee that another-echannel -be.`licensed and used to handle routine
traffic thus cutting back on thclutterfon the primary channel . We have
followed up on this with G.S.D. who,,,con`firmed our suspicion that this cannot be
done as there are no frequencies available. Staffing would be a major roadblock
even if this was available. We have'-also looked into splitting the channel .
This may be possible if we put Pittsburg and Antioch on UHF, leaving the
Sheriff's Department and Brentwood on VHF. The UHF channel could be split,
however this would mean Antioch would need to purchase new radios. This proce-
dure would also defeat the purpose behind the DRCC concept. Again, staffing
would be a major stumbling block.
Dispatch staffing is, in my opinion, the single most critical problem related to
this issue. At this writing we are four people under the authorized strength of
19, with another off on maternity leave and typically two people on vacation.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
s
Radio Congestion at DRCC
July 26, 1988
Page 2
Under the best of circumstances we could use a staff of 25, but we just can't
hire, train and retain competent staff in . sufficient quantity to eliminate our
vacancies. You should know that while DRCC has a 22% vacancy factor, Comm-7 is
suffering 35% vacancies.
The only attainable solution at this time seems to be the use of
keyboards and screen (MDT's) in the cars which could be accomplished in one of
two ways:
1. A new CAD system at _ DRCC utilizing MDT's on an 800 Mhz.
frequency. (It has been rumored that there will be 800 Mhz.
access next year.)
2. Access to the Sheriff's new CAD system which ,will utilize
MDT's.
In September of 1987 we offered the other DRCC members access to our new
system, but for -reasons that aren't entirely clear the committee did not
accept our offer. We ended up withdrawing that offer in December in order to,
complete our system design, and move forward with the project. Since that time
the committee has decided to hire a consultant to suggest`, solutions to this
problem and make recommendations on other related issues, such as replacement
of consoles, replacement of the computer system and ,staffing levels.
In the interim, all departments are monitoring. the use -of Modats in an effort
to eliminate superfluous radio traffic. We are also working with County
Personnel to streamline the recruiting, hiring and selection process in order
to fill existing vacancies, and we are 'exploring scheduling options with the,
union in an effort to put more -people on the dispatch floor to , answer phones
and radios.
If I can make members of my communication staff available to discuss any of
this in detail , please don't hesitate to ask.
RKR/meg:10,37
pc: Captain John C. Hart