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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04172012 - C.88RECOMMENDATION(S): ACCEPT status report on the Office of the Sheriff's capability of dispatching wireless 9-1-1 calls through its Communications Division. FISCAL IMPACT: No fiscal impact. This is an informational report only. BACKGROUND: On December 14, 2010, the Board of Supervisors referred to the PPC the attached letter from the Emergency Medical Care Committee regarding the transmission of 9-1-1 emergency calls from cellular phones to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Our Committee met with representatives from the Office of the Sheriff one year ago, on April 4, 2011, to discuss the status of establishing Sheriff's Dispatch as the PSAP for county unincorporated area wireless emergency calls. Sheriff Department APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 04/17/2012 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor ABSENT:Gayle B. Uilkema, District II Supervisor Contact: JULIE ENEA (925) 335-1077 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: April 17, 2012 David Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: June McHuen, Deputy cc: C.88 To:Board of Supervisors From:PUBLIC PROTECTION COMMITTEE Date:April 17, 2012 Contra Costa County Subject:STATUS REPORT ON THE SHERIFF'S CAPABILITY OF DISPATCHING WIRELESS 9-1-1 CALLS BACKGROUND: (CONT'D) staff had advised that the County was not accepting wireless 9-1-1 calls. Staff explained that the GPS (global positioning system) technology exists to enable Sheriff's Dispatch to receive 9-1-1 system emergency calls from cellular phones and to locate the emergency location within some degree of precision. However, due to several years of tight budgets, Sheriff's Dispatch was not staffed at a level adequate to respond to the call volume associated with the wireless 9-1-1 calls, which are currently routed to the appropriate PSAP by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The PPC reported out to the Board of Supervisors on April 12, 2011 that while transferring responsibility for handling wireless 9-1-1 calls from the CHP to Sheriff's Dispatch would be more efficient and would improve response time, it was unlikely that the County would be in a position, fiscally, to assume this responsibility in the ensuing year with additional budget cuts looming. Therefore, the committee requested the Office of the Sheriff to provide a status report to the PPC in one year to advise if any outside funding becomes available to support such a transition of responsibility. On April 2, 2012, the PPC (Supervisor Glover only; Supervisor Uilkema was absent) received the attached status report prepared by the Office of the Sheriff on the process that has been initiated to make the partial or full transition of 9-1-1 dispatching from the CHP to the Sheriff a reality within funding constraints. The Sheriff reports that if fully implemented, the call volume for Sheriff’s Dispatch is projected to nearly double (from 56,000 calls to about 100,000 calls annually). Since the County can expect no additional outside revenue or other resources to support the increased call volume, the Sheriff is planning a phased implementation at a rate and call volume that current resources will permit. The phased implementation beginning with smaller carriers will provide the necessary experience and feedback to inform future implementation phases. New carriers will not be added unless the previous carrier can be effectively managed. The PPC will continue to monitor the progress of this project and report back to the Board if specific action is required. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: ATTACHMENTS Sheriff's Wireless 9-1-1 Dispatch Status Report April 2012 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY OFFICE OF THE SHERIFF 911 WIRELESS PROGRAM STATUS REPORT SHERIFF DAVID O. LIVINGSTON March 22, 2012 Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff 911 Wireless Program Background: The Technical Services Division has been in the process of preparing to take direct wireless 911 calls into the Communications Center for the past few years. The Sheriff’s Office is currently accepting wireless 911 calls that are transferred from other agencies. California Highway Patrol estimates the potential call volume increase to the Communications Center to be in the area of 80,000 per year. We have completed the review of the cell tower sectors throughout the County with CHP to determine which Public Safety Answering Point should receive calls in each sector. This process was completed in December of 2010. In January of 2011 the Sheriff’s Office Communications Unit drafted the policy for wireless 911 call processing. Over the past year we have been working with CHP to develop a plan that would allow the Sheriff’s Communications Center to accept wireless 911 calls on a carrier by carrier basis, beginning with smaller carriers. In February this year, it was decided to move forward with the project. CHP was notified to begin the implementation process. Metro PCS was selected as the first carrier to cut over. They were advised on February 15, 2015. CHP estimates 3 to 6 months before we take our first direct wireless 911 calls from Metro PCS. Implementation Process: When advised by CHP, each cellular carrier will develop a map layer and build 911 trunks to the selective router. The cellular carrier has 90 days to complete this process. In order to expedite full implementation, we have instructed all carriers to begin this work immediately. The carriers will provide routing sheets for each cell sector based on the map layer developed. We will review this data with CHP to finalize call routing. The majority of cell sectors have already been reviewed. The only sectors that will be reevaluated are any new sectors or areas where the direction of the antenna has changed. Once all of the cell sectors have been reviewed and approved, carriers will begin the cutover and testing process. This process requires a cellular technician to drive the area covered by each cell sector, change the routing for that tower, and place a 911 test call. Once the test call is determined to be successful all future 911 calls from that sector will route to Sheriff’s Office Communications. This process will be repeated for all of the cellular carriers (Metro PCS, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T). The Office of the Sheriff will be in full control of the entire process. We will evaluate call volume after each implementation and add additional carriers based on this evaluation. It is difficult to predict how long the project may take, but it is anticipated the entire project will take anywhere from 12 to 24 months from start through completion, provided that all the testing work proves satisfactory and we are able to maintain acceptable performance with the additional call load. Attachments: 1. California Highway Patrol Review Study 2009 (The most current available) 2. 2011 Call Volumes (All lines)