In 2003 an 11-year old boy unnecessarily died in vehicle crash just blocks from Tallahassee Fire Department Station #3.  The Leon County Sheriff’s Department received the 9-1-1 call for a crash inside the city limits and did not transfer it to Tallahassee Police Department causing a critical delay.  Close to eight years later the same situation exists.

It occurs to me as I continue to read about the Public Safety Complex and our expenditure of approximately $50 million and $3 million annually that this   unacceptable condition could have been solved years ago at a much smaller cost to taxpayers.  After years of discussion regarding Joint Dispatch, there are still important questions to be answered:

Has the county and city completed any analysis to use an existing facility?

Has the city and county developed a governance agreement?

After $50-60 million is expended will there be any significant operational improvement?

How will coordination with Tallahassee Police Department and Leon County Sheriff deployment be improved?

How will this improve response times for the unincorporated county? (Leon County is 702 sq miles while the city is about 102 sq miles)

Has a cost benefit analysis of building options been explored?

Has a risk assessment of building options been explored?

Are there any interim plans to stand-up a Joint Dispatch Center like operations prior to a new building being completed?

The Joint Dispatch issue has been around for years.  Numerous public safety consulting companies from 2000 to 2005 were employed by the city and county during this time frame including:

•     PERF

•     PTI

•     Fitch & Associates (EMS)

•     RCC

•     Winbourne & Costas

In May 2003, an EMS consultant (Fitch and Associates) hired by the City and County Commissions to research the EMS issue recommended that the Tallahassee Police Department Communications Center dispatch EMS services.  Fitch and Associates made this recommendation based upon numerous factors that included:

·         TPD Communications Center PSAP workload (80% of all 9-1-1 activity)

·         The significant public safety workload  is within the City of Tallahassee

·         TPD Communications Center dispatched:

o   Tallahassee Police Department - City of Tallahassee

o   Tallahassee Fire department – All Leon County

o   Volunteer Fire Departments – Unincorporated Leon County

·         Advanced technology employed by the TPD Communications Center

·         Ability to simultaneously dispatch, coordinate, and update Fire, EMS, and Police resources from the same CAD system and associated applications

·         Ability to generate statistical reports from the CAD system to improve efficiencies and effectiveness of public safety resources

·         Ensure the vast majority of citizens calling 9-1-1 would not be unnecessarily transferred

It was pointed out that a joint dispatch between Leon County Sheriff’s Office and Tallahassee Police Department could be accomplished in 90-days housing it in Tallahassee Police Department’s State of the Art Communications Center. Furthermore, highly trained staff from both agencies could be accommodated and absorbed into the current structure.

In this time of economic uncertainty it seems prudent to consider all options before expending such an enormous amount of our taxpayer money. In other words, is this the most cost effective and efficient way to solve the issues without hampering Public Safety? More importantly, now that this facility and annual operations has been approved will it be successful if none of the other issues are resolved?