By Lisa Riley Roche and Geoff Liesik
The Deseret News
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — The system for dispatching some 911 calls in Salt Lake County is “inherently inefficient,” according to the findings of a legislative audit released Wednesday. But representatives for the Valley Emergency Communications Center and the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office say they’ve already taken steps to fix issues identified by auditors.
The review conducted by the state Office of the Legislative Auditor General examined, in part, the interaction between VECC and the sheriff’s communications division.
Auditors said they found delays in the dispatching of sheriff’s deputies to 911 calls in certain areas of the county because of the need to transfer callers from VECC, a primary call center, to the sheriff’s office, a secondary call center.
“There are some warm and fuzzies in there, but I’m not sure there’s a plan,” said Utah House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, of the formal responses from both agencies to the audit’s findings. “How do we turn the audit into action?” he asked.
Salt Lake County Undersheriff Scott Carver told House members the audit opens up a discussion on emergency preparedness in the county.
“One thing we do know is we are in a situation of not being as prepared as we could be on the communications front,” Carver said, especially in a major disaster such as an earthquake.
Carver suggested lawmakers study the issue. William Harry, the executive director of VECC, said he would discuss the audit findings with the center’s board of directors, before adding that he believes “the configuration of dispatch services in the county should be left up to local authorities.”
Under the existing system, all 911 calls in the county outside Salt Lake City are routed to VECC. However, if a caller lives in Bluffdale, Herriman, Holladay, Riverton or unincorporated Salt Lake County and needs a sheriff’s deputy, VECC dispatchers must transfer the call to the sheriff’s communications division. Taylorsville residents are also routed to the sheriff’s office, which handles 911 dispatch duties for the city’s police department.
“On average, it takes VECC’s call takers one minute and 15 seconds to complete the initial interview process before the call is transferred to the sheriff’s communication division,” auditors wrote. “After a 911 call has been transferred to the sheriff’s communication division, a call taker interviews the caller, asking similar questions.”
Auditors said this redundant questioning means additional time passes before a deputy is dispatched. They interviewed 40 people who called 911 from an area where the sheriff’s office provides police services.
Twenty-three respondents told auditors the questions they were asked were repetitive, and three offered the following responses:
“The situation was dangerous for the sick child who was locked in the house due to the fact I had to repeat the situation.”
“Due to the transfer process, I forgot the license plate number.”
A third caller said she was frustrated by being transferred from VECC to the sheriff’s office and concerned for her own safety because of a possible gang fight.
Auditors noted that aside from the three incidents identified in the report, those sampled “felt that the 911 service they received was good.” But auditors said callers aren’t the only ones affected by the two-system approach.
Emergency responders also face potential problems because of the split 911 services.
“If county police units respond to an incident and determine fire/medical help is needed, then county dispatchers have to send the information regarding the incident to VECC so the fire/medical dispatchers at VECC can send emergency units to the incident,” auditors wrote.
Likewise, auditors found, if VECC sends fire or emergency medical personnel to a call where the sheriff’s office provides law enforcement services, it is necessary to notify the communications division so a deputy can be dispatched.
In June, VECC and the sheriff’s office implemented an electronic “bridge” between their differing computer-aided dispatch systems in an effort to reduce the delays and information-sharing problems identified in the audit. Officials with both entities, in letters attached to the audit report, said the bridge is working as hoped.
“It has provided accountability for the transfer of emergency incident information,” VECC representatives said in their letter. “Currently the system is operating very well, with more than 330,000 transactions having been processed over the system.”
Auditors acknowledged that because the bridge was put in place so recently, they were unable to assess whether it will be a long-term fix. Still, they recommended that the Legislature direct the Utah 911 Committee to study the organization of primary public safety dispatch centers statewide and examine possible consolidation of centers in some areas to “help protect long-term public interests.”
Clark asked what happens next, and how to avoid getting “into a turf war worse than we already are” among the agencies involved. He further asked whether any of the agencies were willing to take the initiative and pursue implementing the audit findings.
“I’m not sure where this competitive nature crept into this process,” he said, prompting Harry and Carver to say they would work together.
The audit findings were referred to several legislative committees for follow-up.