Outsourcing Police Dispatch: Pros and Cons

On Wednesday, the Gulfport City Council will vote on the second reading of the proposed operating budget for fiscal 2012 during a special budget meeting.

Included in the budget is the elimination of the Gulfport Police Department's Communications Center, four communications officers (dispatchers) and one network administrator. In return, the city would seek an outside vendor – currently, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office – to provide dispatch services and records management services.

The proposal from the sheriff's office is attached to this story.

What do you think? Should the Gulfport City Council outsource the Gulfport Police Department's Communications Center and services?

Pros

Cost savings: Outsourcing dispatch would save Gulfport an estimated $147,677 in fiscal 2012 and $305,226 in fiscal 2013, according to the sheriff's office proposal. The savings is less in the first year due to the cost of conversion.

The current proposal from the sheriff's office would cost $115,000 the first year and $85,000 the second year. The cost savings includes eliminating four dispatchers and one network administrator position, according to Administrative Services Director Dan Carpenter.

Improved communication: Outsourcing dispatch would allow "sharing direct communication with surrounding jurisdictions," Gulfport Police Chief Robert Vincent says. Those jurisdictions could include "either St. Pete or the sheriff's office." Vincent says the St. Petersburg Police Department may be interested in bidding for the contract for services depending on the city's final decision Wednesday.

Vincent adds that by communicating more frequently, "the relationships between our officers and neighbors would likely improve."

Pinellas County Chief Deputy Robert Gualtieri says that if the sheriff's office bid is accepted, Gulfport Police would be on the same radio channel as deputies. Gulfport officers would also be able to talk directly to a dispatcher while a call taker receives information from a caller or witness.

Better communicaion will improve public safety, Gualtieri says. He offers an example scenario: “Let’s say there’s a robbery at subway in South Pasadena. There’s a description, 'going eastbound into Gulfport Boulevard.' We have to physically call the Gulfport Communications Center. We're losing time."

By working on the same system, he says, officers will know where other units are if a suspect is fleeing another city and entering Gulfport, and officers will have one dispatcher assigned to their radio channel at all times.

Better access to records: Another operational benefit is the ability for Gulfport Police to instantly view and search records from the sheriff's office or St. Petersburg Police Department.

Here is an example from Vincent: "If I do a traffic stop right now ... I type in 'George Smith' into the call log, any prior encounters that we've had with him, it's going to instantly go up. ... If I want to see what kind of contacts with St. Pete or (the) sheriff's office, I have to open up a new browser then log in."

Vincent says because of the time needed to log in again, many officers do not check the other systems: "The truth is, they don't have the information; they don't know."

Gualtieri says the Gulfport Police Department would have direct access to the sheriff's office database and system.

Employment for dispatchers: Gualtieri says he will offer all four Gulfport dispatchers positions with the sheriff's office. "We hope that there will be a successful transition into our communications center," he said. "They will need to go through our training program and meet our criteria. If for some reason they were unable to successfully complete our training program, we have other positions."

Access to GPS: Currently, Gulfport Police do not have global positioning systems in their vehicles. “When they switch over, they will need GPS," Gualtieri said. He adds that the sheriff's office communications center has a "mobile map" that will enable call takers and dispatchers to see where the police vehicle is and where it's located in relation to backup. "There will be a significant enhancement," Gualtieri said. "They will be able to see where they are.”

Cons

No holding facility: Vincent says the department will lose access to its holding cells. Vincent says it's possible to have the vendor agency monitor the facility via video feed, but "realistically, they don't have the means to do it, they don't have the equipment to do it, and it would be completely out of the ordinary."

He also adds that it would be an issue even during business hours. "The person monitoring the video camera has to be glued to the chair," he said. "There is nobody in the police station that is glued to their chair. It would be way too risky. I just can't take that risk."

Vincent says he can't pull someone else from duty in the station to monitor the video feed. Currently, the dispatcher is able to do that in the communications center.

If the communications center were to be outsourced, there are two options officers face concerning the holding cell issue. It would take two officers to hold a suspect and prepare for the interview: one to stay with the suspect in a vehicle and the other to prepare the interview room. The other alternative is to take the suspect to the Pinellas County Jail, where the suspect could come in contact with other people in jail.

Vincent says Gulfport's holding facility has been used for 129 people in the past 12 months.

Reduced support for after-hours emergencies: Vincent adds more insight in his blog, saying that people will no longer be able to take refuge in the building for after-hours emergencies.

City Council members have said people can go to the fire department to seek help and safety. Vincent says that's unrealistic because when firefighters are on a call, their station is empty. He also says that firefighters sleep in a bunk room where it may be difficult to hear someone knocking at the door.

Less authority over staff and services: Gulfport Police will become customers instead of bosses when it comes to communications staff and services, Vincent says.

Computer network would be maintained off site: The public safety network would be managed and operated at a remote site, Vincent says. Currently, the computer network is maintained inside Gulfport City Hall. When an officer loses Internet access or power in a mobile unit (vehicle laptop), it would need to be fixed through the sheriff's office.

Too expensive to "go back": "We would not be able to go back; it would be too expensive," Vincent said. "If you go back to the way things are right now, we would have to purchase a brand new CAD and records management system – that costs between $250,000 and $500,000. Once we cancel the maintenance agreement with the vendor, in order to get it back, we would get a new one. Then would have to hire [dispatchers] and then get them trained simultaneously."

Gualtieri says he doesn't see any cons to outsourcing dispatch. “It's more cost effective; it eliminates redundancies," he said. "It will help officer safety for (the) sheriff’s office and for Gulfport. The citizens are going to get as good or better product, (and) dispatch will be more efficient."

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The Gulfport City Council will vote on the second reading of the operating budget for fiscal 2012 on Wednesday, Sept. 21, during a special meeting at 7 p.m. at Gulfport City Hall.