* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Young
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Investigative Hearing - The Status of the 311 Non-Emergency and 911 Emergency Response Systems
FOR the purpose of requesting the Baltimore Police Commissioner, the Baltimore Fire Chief, and the Interim Chief of the Mayor's Office of Information Technology (MOIT) to report to the City Council on the efficacy of the separate systems, on the effect of the 311 non-emergency response system in abating the number of police and fire units deployed to non-emergency calls, and the rationale for the proposed merger of the 911 Emergency and 311 Non-emergency response call centers.
body
Recitals
The Managing Calls to the Police With 911/311 Systems, February 2005, research for practice of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, found that in response to many 911 systems being overwhelmed with calls, most of them not emergencies, some jurisdictions introduced 311 non-emergency systems. Researchers found that in Baltimore calls to 911 decreased by almost 5,000 per week after 311 was implemented.
Dispatch Magazine On-Line credits Baltimore City with being the first to locally implement the 311 system, in October 1996. The 311 number was then approved for nationwide use by the Federal Communications Commission in 1997, after the President endorsed the 311 non-emergency response system concept as part of the community-involved policing campaign. As of September 2008, about 55.8 million people have access to the 311 number, about 18% of the U.S. population.
The Department of Justice study found that Baltimore's innovative development of the 311 non-emergency response system has not been entirely successful. While the overall burden on 911 was reduced and citizen use of and satisfaction with call 311 was high, "the 311 system's impact on policing was muted because the department's response and dispatching protocols were not changed when the system was implemented."
"The researchers noted 3 key areas that the 311 system was expected to have affected that actually showed little impact:
· Response Times. Response times for priority 1 calls to 911 were not lowered; rather, patrols were dispatched a bit more slowly following the introduction of 311.
· Dispatch Policy. After 311 was implemented, Baltimore police continued dispatching officers for all calls, whether 911 or 311 (except priority 5 calls). Officers either did not know or were indifferent about whether a call had been placed through 911 or 311.
· Officer discretionary time. Researchers discovered only a marginal gain in uncommitted blocks of time experienced by patrol units. Almost 2/3rds of officers surveyed did not perceive a change in how much discretionary time they had available, most likely because time gains were spread out over shifts and obscured by the failure to dispatch 311 and 911 calls differently."
The study concludes that the Baltimore City experience suggests that a 311 non-emergency call system can both relieve and overburden a 911 system and provide the opportunity to improve and expand community-oriented policing. To best accomplish the latter, a department must be willing to consider changes in methods and policies, including a dual-dispatch, consolidated, or centralized operations center.
As research shows that a consolidated or dual call center is more effective in bringing about the desired effect of freeing police and fire to respond to true emergencies and delivering non-emergency services to citizens expeditiously, surrounding subdivisions are converting their response systems. For instance, in Baltimore County, the Central Communications Center provides for "the consolidated receipt of emergency calls, the immediate assessment of the availability of response vehicles and manpower, and the dispatching of appropriate units to handle all public service calls throughout the County."
The Council requires an update on the status of a review currently being conducted by MOIT to determine if the implementation of a similar system will have fiscal and programmatic benefit to Baltimore City and can be brought about without displacing or demoting personnel.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Baltimore Police Commissioner, the Baltimore Fire Chief, and the Interim Chief of the Mayor's Office of Information Technology (MOIT) are requested to report to the City Council on the efficacy of the separate systems, on the effect of the 311 non-emergency response system in abating the number of police and fire units deployed to non-emergency calls, and the rationale for the proposed merger of the 911 Emergency and 311 Non-emergency response call centers.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Police Commissioner, the Fire Commissioner, the Interim Chief of MOIT, the Director of Finance, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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