Behind the Scenes at Dispatch Centers in Gulfport, Largo

Gulfport Police Department's Communications Center

1) About 30,000 calls are taken per year, including 2,000 911 transfer calls.

2) There are four communications officers and one police services supervisor who can help and relieve the officer on duty. There is one communications officer working at all times. They work three 12-hour days and one four-hour day each week. If officers are using the primary channel, only one dispatcher is needed. If officers need to use both channels (Alpha and Bravo), a second dispatcher is called in.

3) The dispatch center uses two channels to communicate directly with officers, Alpha and Bravo. In addition to the department's channels, Police Chief Robert Vincent says officers can switch channels to hear what's happening in surrounding jurisdictions including:

• St. Petersburg Police Department
• Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
• Treasure Island Police Department
• St. Pete Beach Police Department
• Pinellas Park Police Department

There is also a "mutual aid" channel that is a national system, allowing an officer anywhere in the country to contact another officer or agency.

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Communications Center

1) About 450,000 calls are taken per year, of which 36,000 are 911 calls. The number 450,000 accounts for all inbound and outbound calls.

2) The PCSO Communications Center has 73 staff members, including 9 switchboard operators, 18 emergency operator/complaint writers and 36 public safety telecommunicators. At any given time there are at least four public safety telecommunicators working the department's four primary radio channels. During peak times, large scale emergencies and weather emergencies, more staff can be called in.

3) There are several radio channels the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office operates with. There are four primary and four secondary channels that the communications center uses to dispatch and communicate with officers and deputies. If the sheriff's office were to provide dispatch services to the Gulfport Police Department, the department would be included in the south channel. In the case of a large-scale incident in the south channel area, those officers or deputies can switch to the secondary south channel, clearing up the primary south channel for the rest of the area.

4) The sheriff's office provides dispatch and police coverage for 12 municipalities including:

• Belleair Beach
• Belleair Bluffs
• Belleair Shore
• Dunedin
• Indian Rocks Beach
• Madeira Beach
• North Redington Beach
• Oldsmar
• Redington Beach
• Safety Harbor
• Seminole 
• South Pasadena

It provides dispatch for three cities that have their own police departments including Belleair, Indian Shores and Kenneth City.

Technology in Gulfport

The Gulfport Police Department currently uses a public safety network that has been in place since December 2003. The network is connected to 24 mobile laptops and several desktop computers in the city. The system is a database and allows officals to write, read and find past and present police reports, information, documents and resources. It's also the gateway for officials to connect with state and national public safety programs and systems.

There are two Internet connections in the city, one for public safety and one for Internet use in the rest of the city. Only those with access to public safety can use it, view and create reports and perform other public safety related functions

Network Administrator Richard Citta says a switch to another network would mean new training for all public safety employees in Gulfport and converting all computer equipment to use the sheriff's office network. Cita says a swtich to a remote location would also affect the department if the system were to fail. There would no longer be a person in house to asses the problem and fix it. If an officer's radio or mobile laptop quit working, the sheriff's office, which is located in Largo, would have to to fix the problem.

Possible New Technology in Gulfport

Gulfport Police officers would be required to install GPS systems in their vehicles and become part of the "mobile map" that the PCSO Communication Center uses if the city decides to contract services through the sheriff's office. The "mobile map" allows call takers and dispatchers (public safety telecommunicators) to see where all vehicles are at all times.

Behind the Scenes at the Gulfport Communications Center

During the National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in April, I sat in the Gulfport Police Department Communications Center as Communications Officer LaKeisha Isaac answered calls, dispatched officers and monitored local and national law enforcement programs and alert systems on one or more of her six screens. Isaac is one of four full-time dispatchers and has about 15 years of experience with the Gulfport Police Department Communications Center.

Communications officers include:

• Frank Wheelehan
• Francine Whitten
• LaKeisha Issac
• Clint Meyer

James Beane, police services supervisor, explained that staff members at the center have heard everything from people wanting to commit suicide to a murder confession.

Recently, I learned that technology, computer systems, radio and mobile units for officers and dispatchers are monitored, updated and fixed by Citta. During a visit this month, a mobile laptop "went down," and Citta immediately checked out the laptop to see if it was user error, Internet connection failure or a software issue. Within minutes, Citta figured out that the Internet connection from the city was not working. He was able to contact officials and alert them and the officers of the issue. If a mobile unit laptop were to be malfunctioning due to another issue, Citta would have a backup to give to the officer.

Tour of Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Communications Center

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Communications Center is located at 10750 Ulmerton Road in Largo. I recently toured the department and met with Communications Division Commander Lt. James Bordner. Bordner explained that when a call comes into the center, a call-taker first answers the call. The call-taker immediately begins gathering information. If the situation is an emergency and requires an officer right away, the call taker alerts a dispatcher and either sends information instantly on the computer system (via teletype) or speaks directly to the dispatcher from across the room. Bordner says the call taker will then continue to gather information and keep the person on the phone while a dispatcher contacts an officer.

The "call ticket may be built five to six minutes after the call," Bordner said. "An officer will be on scene before the ticket is done."

Bordner says the sheriff's office communications center is able to provide several people to help with one call or incident. "We have a larger staff," he said.

"Officer safety and public safety is equally important. We don't want to focus on one thing and miss information," Bordner said.

Bordner says when a person calls, a phone number and address appears on the screen. At all times, officers who use the sheriff's office system have a GPS in the vehicle, giving call takers and dispatchers a "mobile map" on their computers, showing where vehicles are in relation to the incident or person in need.

Bordner explained that there are four primary radio channels that dispatchers and officers use, and there are four secondary radio channels for those. That means 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there is one dispatcher assigned to one radio channel. If an agency needed to use a radio channel for a large-scale emergency, it could switch to the secondary channel for its region.

Public Safety Telecommunicator Mariella Morelli says the communications center is like a second family. "Everybody helps everybody. With all the tenure, you've grown up with these people," she said. "You're never alone ... it's good in that respect."

Assistant Communications Supervisor Sheila Sommer has been with the department for nearly 17 years. "It doesn't matter where the call is coming from," she said. "We care."

"When everything works perfectly, you never know that we were invovled," Bordner said.