A new communication system in the 9-1-1 office is causing a lag in getting emergency messages delivered, but officials are working on the issue and hope to have it resolved soon.
Karen Blevins, director of the Jefferson County Office of Emergency Management, told the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association Board on Wednesday that the Computer Aided Dispatch system, which went live in October, was giving dispatchers "issues" because of the time it took to get calls out to the various agencies when someone calls in with an emergency.
"It's seconds but seconds matter in this business," Blevins said. "Sometimes it's as much as seven seconds but that can make a difference."
Blevins said there are workarounds to getting the calls out but that she looks forward to the day when the system works flawlessly.
The CAD system cost about $350,000. Blevins said the county had paid about half of that but was not going to pay the rest until the system was working as advertised.
The problem, she said, is that the system, which was purchased from Motorola, needs to have an update installed. To do that, technicians need to take the system down for about an hour. A back-up system at the Sheriff's office also needs to be taken down so that it can be updated at the same time, but that system has connectivity problems.
"Their technicians and our technicians are working on this," she said, "so we hope to have this fixed quickly."
The MECA board also gave Blevins its approval to hire three more full-time employees – two to work in the dispatch room and a clerk to input protective orders and handle other paperwork. Currently, there is only one clerk handling such matters, and Doris Golden, operations manager for the 9-1-1 office, said one is not enough, according to a recent audit her office received.
"They dinged us on a lot of things," Golden said. "They said one person can't do all that she does."
Blevins said that with two additional dispatchers, each shift could have up to seven people instead of six, giving the office the ability to better cover for people who were out sick or on vacation. She added that the department had, at one time, a second clerk and an additional dispatcher but that those positions were cut in 2016 as part of an effort to save money at a time when county finances were low.
"So really, we're just bringing those two positions back and adding one extra dispatcher," Blevins said.
There would be no additional cost this year to the various public safety agencies around the county for the additional positions, but next year, the tab will likely be about $36,000, which would be spread over all of those agencies, with Pine Bluff paying about 70% of that.
The need for the additional employees was apparent from both sides of the table on Wednesday. When the Pine Bluff Police Department instigates special initiatives, such as flooding an area with police officers who are making traffic stops, police can tell there is a sometimes slow response from the 9-1-1 office, according to Police Chief Lloyd Franklin Sr., who is a MECA board member. And the reason there is a slow response, said Golden, is because the 9-1-1 staff is shorthanded or because she hasn't received enough notice from the police department to schedule more personnel.
"It's good we can do this," said Mayor Shirley Washington, another board member, after the board gave Blevins' request its unanimous approval.
Blevins said she will now need to get the approval of the Jefferson County Quorum Court. The justices of the peace meet next week, but their committee meeting was Tuesday, making it unlikely that Blevins can get the request on next week's agenda. That means Blevins probably won't be able to get approval until the quorum court's July meeting. If positions are approved then, she said she could probably fill the slots by August.
Pay for the positions will start at $28,620 and increase to $30,740 after a probationary period is completed, Blevins said.