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New computer program helps Calif. dispatchers ask all the right questions

The county paid $125,000 to integrate a computer program designed to help better respond to law enforcement-related calls

By Bonnie Eslinger
San Jose Mercury News

SAN MATEO, Calif. — On any given day, San Mateo County emergency dispatchers handle hundreds of phone calls from residents with fire, medical, police and other concerns. The ability of any one call-taker to deftly respond to the myriad of emergencies and get necessary information from an often panicked caller leans heavily on the dispatcher’s experience and training.

Now law enforcement dispatchers have a new tool at their disposal -- a computer program that offers a step-by-step sequence of questions developed for several dozen of the most common calls. A similar program is already used by dispatchers handling medical calls.

In July, county law enforcement dispatchers were trained to use “Emergency Police Protocol,” a computer program designed to help them better respond to law enforcement-related calls. The county paid $125,000 to integrate the program, developed by the nonprofit National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, into the county’s emergency communication system.

Elise Moeck, the county’s law enforcement program manager, said before getting the computer program, there was not as much consistency with the information call-takers took down.

“It was all based on their level of experience, knowledge and intuition, if you will. Now with Protocol, it blends both the Protocol and your knowledge and intuition. It limits your ability to forget something,” Moeck said. “We get everything from parking complaints to shootings to stabbings to home invasions.”

After asking some basic questions to get the caller’s address, call-back number and name, the dispatcher asks the “tell me exactly what happened question.”

If there’s a dangerous situation, the county’s computer system allows the call-taker to immediately dispatch police or medical assistance with a keystroke. The program also gives the call-taker prompts to provide information to help maintain the caller’s safety until help arrives.

Jon Long, who has been a dispatcher since 2001, said the program is particularly helpful for uncommon situations.

“I handle a disturbance (call) every day, but you give me an abduction and I’m just going on memory,” Long said. “With this system, I don’t have to worry about it. ... All the questions are prompted.”

Early on in the conversation, dispatchers also ask about the safety of the situation and if weapons are involved, Moeck said, for the sake of the people involved and for the officers responding to the scene.

Sometimes callers get anxious or frustrated by the long series of questions.

“We’ve been getting a little bit of ‘Why are you asking me that? You never asked me that before?’” Moeck said.

The program also prompts 911 call-takers to ask for suspect and witness information.

“Everything starts here, once we answer the phone,” Moeck said. “Whenever there’s any type of prosecution for anything, the 911 tapes are always subpoenaed, documentation is requested, dispatchers are often subpoenaed to testify to what they heard. Because what we do here gives them probable cause to stop someone.”

The county has 40 call-takers/dispatchers. Moeck called it a “very much unrecognized” job.

“It’s 12 to 16 hours of dealing with other people’s emergencies and being on your game all the time,” she said.

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