Opinion: Silent Dispatching

[ladymoonlite]

I may have asked this before, but I'm persistent if nothing else!

I'm looking for input on SILENT DISPATCHING calls via MDC or MDT, as opposed to radio dispatching everything. Our agency is considering dispatching cold calls in this manner and I need data from agencies who have done it - good or bad. How do you do it, what types of calls do you use it for (did you make a list or is it calltaker judgement)?

ANYONE out there doing this? I hear all sorts of opinions that it is an officer safety issue, but no one can back that up with a specific case so far. Has anyone had a problem of this nature?

Thanks in advance!

[MrJim911]

What if the officers are out of their vehicles when you send them a call? (officers will not always tell us when they are out of the car. Grr!!) What if they are in the car but they don't hear the call come down to them? What if they send you a message and you don't know the message came up? How will all the other officers know where their other guys are at, at any given time? (some just want to hear it on the radio and not check their MDT's everytime someone else is assigned a call) That right there may generate more radio traffic since they will ask you. I know at my agency we only put in the supervisors as able to receive a copy of every call. If I accidentally put a beat officer in the same way they get mad because they are getting everyone elses calls. I just don't see a reason to do this for any department. If your busy than the low priority calls are going to wait anyway because you won't have any available units.

On a personal (and paranoid note) I don't like our job becoming less personalized. I think the officer/dispatcher relationship, albeit strained at times, does better when the voice is heard. Just my $.02

[MsKippie]

At our department, after going through various growing pains in regards to silent dispatching, we found a solution that works for us.

When we send out a call to the MCT, we will also just give out a brief blurb that we did so. For example: "310, delayed criminal mischief, 123 anyplace dr." And we leave it at that. They don't have to verbally respond because when they check enroute via the MCT it automatically updates in our CAD.

This worked best for us because it covers when the officer is out of the vehicle and may not have marked out, also it lets the patrol lieutenant, sergeant, corporal, etc. be aware of the call load when they are in the office and not on CAD.

Good luck!

[KYEMT325]

I don't think we have to worry about silent dispatching anytime in the near future, since Kentucky is so behind in technology and providing it to the law enforcement agencies. Yes, they are already teaching MDT's at the academy to police cadets, but there's only like 3 agencies in the state that have the capability to use MDT's at this time, and the interfaces with the state system aren't that good from what I hear.

So, by time we get the technology, all the bugs will be worked out and everyone will already know whether silent dispatching is the way to go or not.:p

[ladymoonlite]

Oh, I see! We get to be the guinea pigs for you! See - there really are advantages to being behind in technology after all.

Speaking of technology, who has AVL (Automatic Vehicle Locator)technology, and what do you think of that? It's the next step we're planning on. Officers seem to hate it (Big Brother watching) but I think, "If you're not doing anything wrong, why do you care if we always know where your car is?"

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[MsKippie]

My department has used the AVL for about 2 1/2 years now. At first the officers were very worried about the "Big Brother" issues, as ours not only shows the location on the screen, but the unit's speed as well. The only time that I am aware of that it was used against an officer is when he tried to cover up a fleet accident. The Sergeant was able to go back through the records and place the officer within two feet of the area where the fleet occurred, and he was subsequently "let go." But that was the officer's fault, not the AVL working against him.

Over time, the officers have pretty much forgotton about the system. It is advantageous for us in Communications to send the closest unit to a call, or as a back up, not just relying on a certain district officer.

Overall, I think once the officers get used to having it, they won't worry so much about who is watching all the time. A lot, I suppose, depends on how much micromanagement is going on upstairs!

[MrJim911]

MsKippie, I'd be interested on what type of system you use and how much the costs are, purchase and maintenance? Also how reliable the system is as far as break downs/technical problems? Is it integrated into the CAD?

[MsKippie]

Hey Jim,

The system that we are currently using is VisionCAD software. It is a windows based program. The initial cost of the system was around $85,000 to get us to the DOS version, and then $52,000 for the Windows upgrade shortly after. We currently have our CAD, chat, TCIC/NCIC, paging software and city weather alert sirens all programmed into our CAD. As well as all the MCT's through our main system. The mobiles are very much like a mini version of the main system. In addition to call/unit information, they have paperless reporting features that are downloaded to the main switch and printed off.

As far as AVL, it can/will be integrated after the mapping geobase is completed and good maps can be updated to the system. My city grows so rapidly that it is hard to keep up! Currently it is housed on a 24in monitor, waiting to be connected to CAD.

The system is pretty buggy a lot of the time, and is not really very user friendly. It crashes A LOT on deep nights for some reason, so I usually spend about 5 hours/week in the computer room trying to get us back up. My Lt. was selected to sit on the Vision Advisory Board however, so we usually get a lot of maintenance taken care of pretty quickly, and honestly I don't know about the costs for that. In fairness to them, I can't think of many people I talk to who truly love their CAD!

Hope this info helps, if you have any questions let me know!

[MrJim911]

Wow, I knew they were expensive but $85,000?! Anyway, thanks for the info!!

[Lynn3409]

Our department encourages silent dispatching, but leaves it up to the dispatcher most of the time.

We have 4 classifications of calls - Emergency is dispatched immediately and is done over the air, Immediate is dispatched within 3 minutes and is done over the air, Prompt is dispatched within 20 minutes and may be dispatched over the air or silently and Delay is dispatched within 1 hour and is mostly done silently.

Dispatchers in my department have taken the approach that if more than one officer is being dispatched, it will go out over the air. Just in case someone is closer, or if someone knows the parties involved there might be more info they can provide. Most Delay calls are paper calls and are done silently.

As far as making sure the officer receives the call, if the officer does not enroute him/herself on the MDT within 5 minutes, a reminder to check his/her screen is aired over the radio using the code 10-14.

All in all, the system works well because it is left up to the dispatcher to make the decisions, which is how it should be.

Lynn3409

[ladymoonlite]

Lynn,

Any negative experiences with it? What do the officers think of it, do you know?

Thanks for your reply!

[Lynn3409]

I believe overall everyone is pleased with the system. The only difficult part on the dispatching side is when you silent dispatch a paper call to one unit, and he has a question about it. You answer the question, then another unit wants to know what he has. All the officers can't see the comments on the call, only the one that gets it. So you've got curious people, and thats natural.

One thing I didn't mention is that when an officer runs traffic, he must put it out over the air. Some dept's don't require that, and the officer has the ability to put the location and the tag in themselves. Ours have to verbalize it and the dispatcher puts the unit status in. I like it for officer safety reasons. Usually the screen is pretty full and I have to keep scrolling down to see everyone. I would hate to miss the traffic unit and not check on them when I need to.

Of course you do have some officers that have trouble hitting the "E" for enroute or the "O" for onscene, and they still verbalize everything, but those are mostly the oldtimers that like things the way they were. I don't really care how they do it, as long as I know where they are, I'm happy.

Lynn

[JHP]

Blessed be the Dispatcher for they are the eyes and ears.

Blessed be the Dispatcher because they often feel your fears!

Blessed be the Dispatcher for they hear the anxiety in the callers voice!

Blessed be the Dispatcher for they will be who you call when its your last choice.

Blessed be the Dispatcher Thank you for your care.

JHP :bounce:

[ladymoonlite]

Thanks to everyone for your input on this one. We've forwarded our proposal (which seems to include something from each of your responses) to patrol and we'll see what their input is now. I'm hoping we can come to an agreement that will satisfy everyone.

I'm just so glad to have this forum to use for this kind of info!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: