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Published on Sunday, October 12, 2003
in the Tallahassee Democrat
Florida law-enforcement officials earlier this year combined 89 call-dispatch centers used by 10 state and federal agencies and consolidated them into seven larger-scale operations.
While officials say it is a more cost-effective system for the state, dispatchers say they are having problems adjusting to covering larger geographical areas and overcoming glitches such as sending officers to incorrect locations.
For the public, it also means calling 911 from Interstate 10 in Live Oak only to have a trooper sent by a dispatcher in Jacksonville or Tallahassee who might not have a working knowledge of the call area.
The Tallahassee region - which spans from Escambia to Suwannee counties - was the last joint dispatch center to go operational in April.
The system's effectiveness depends on whom you talk to.
Duty officer Robert Tarter says he was given false promises to entice him to move with his dispatch office from Pensacola to Tallahassee.
FHP Trooper Walter Liddell, who patrols Wakulla County, tells stories of working with new dispatchers who lack a working knowledge of his jurisdiction, often causing problems in communications and delaying response times.
While everyone involved in the system acknowledges there have been some mishaps - which, they say, come with any new operation - they think the system slowly will become a major improvement over previous systems.
"It'll work itself out," said Lt. John Bagnardi, of the Florida Highway Patrol in Tallahassee.
The new call centers are located in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Lake Worth, Fort Myers and Miami. Besides the FHP, dispatchers handle calls for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida Fire Marshal, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Florida Attorney General's Office and the Department of Agriculture.
Dispatchers who were used to taking calls from two or three troopers simultaneously now find themselves helping at least six or seven people - or more.
The consolidation is part of a larger plan for the dispatch centers to all move to a new 800 megahertz frequency that will allow for easier access to all law-enforcement agencies. The Tallahassee Regional Call Center, located downtown on Calhoun Street in the Carlton Building, is the last call center to convert to the single-frequency system, Bagnardi said. Testing is being done to determine how the system would work in the region.
Bagnardi said the equipment has been purchased and the towers are up east of Madison, and the agency is now in the final stages of getting it up and running.
Once that happens, many of the problems should be resolved, he said.
"We have to monitor four frequencies instead of one," Bagnardi said. "(The new system) is easier and more cost-effective."
'Recipe for problems'
He said the transition has not been without glitches. The Tallahassee center answers calls for 18 counties. The center, which averages about 12 people per shift - as opposed to three before the consolidation - has had several calls answered a lot slower than they would have been in the old format. But, he said, it's not the fault of the system.
"If there's any delay in response time for us, it's due to human error," Bagnardi said. "The biggest obstacle is that we don't have the 800 megahertz radio system."
Chief Jim Howell of the FHP in Tallahassee said a lack of manpower in many areas, combined with the lack of knowledge of new coverage areas, also can contribute to slower call response.
"The biggest problem is having enough people to respond to service," he said. "Do we have enough people in the sparsely populated areas like Suwannee? We have what we have - only 'X' number of people there and they cover all the shifts."
It was human error, Liddell said, that caused a dispatcher to send a trooper in Tallahassee to a crash more than an hour west in Chipley.
"(The dispatcher) was confused with the roads," said Liddell, a 23-year veteran of the FHP.
He said he remembers when a duty officer would let him know any information he needed to know about a scene, including whether there were any fatalities or whether tow trucks, fire trucks or emergency vehicles would be needed.
"Now," he says, "they basically wait for you to make those decisions." "There's new personnel, a new system and a lack of familiarity with duty officers," Liddell said. "That's a recipe for problems and concerns."
But the dispatcher who helped him with a Thursday crash - involving a fatality when a gasoline tanker flipped over and exploded - reminded him of those he once worked with in the past.
"She multi-tasked - coordinating the DEP, Sheriff, EMS, DOT," he said. "She certainly was squared away."
The personal toll
The gradual move also made it so that duty officers at old call centers could decide whether they wanted to move to the new call hubs or be placed in similar jobs in city or county operations.
Some people took jobs at local sheriff's offices or found jobs out of the field.
Gloria Bryan earned a 15-percent raise after moving to Tallahassee. The best part about the move, she said, was the fact that she already knew the Pensacola troopers she'd be dispatching from Tallahassee. She had been a dispatcher in Pensacola for three years.
The worst part was that she had to leave her husband behind.
At first, she said, she didn't mind because it sounded very convenient with offers of getting overtime pay to travel home and even the use of a car to use for those trips. She was one of dozens across the state who chose to move with their job instead of seeking employment elsewhere.
"There were a lot of broken promises," she said from her downtown post last week.
Since she's moved to Tallahassee, she's had to meet new co-workers and master a new dispatching system. And she can't forget the six-hour round-trips to Pensacola to visit her husband, who decided to remain in Pensacola when she moved here in March.
"There's things that don't work; sometimes it's aggravating," she said. "We take calls from 18 counties."
Robert Tarter said it hurts to be away from his wife and three children, ages 22, 18 and 15. The pain came to the forefront Tuesday when his son had a car crash and he only was able only to dispense his fatherly advice by cell phone.
"I'm not there to take care of that," he said.
When he decided to move to Tallahassee with his job, he was told he would get a car to use for visiting his family in Pensacola.
That fell through, he said.
He was also told that he would be able to get overtime for the time it took to make it home to make up for the money he shelled out for the trips back and forth to visit on his days off. That, he said, eventually was phased out.
The truth is, those perks never were really solidified, Bagnardi said.
"That was probably more rumor than anything," Bagnardi said of the free use of vehicles. "I think the Fresh Water Fish Commission had cars available for a short period of time. We didn't have cars available for these folks. And we don't give our troopers drive time."
Bagnardi did say that those dispatchers who decided to make the move earned hefty raises. "Our dispatchers make about $3,000 less than our troopers and overtime is available."
Because he's spent 30 years on the job and none of the other options would pay as much as he's making, Tarter made the move to Tallahassee. And it helps that he's already liked by his co-workers.
"(With me dispatching) they feel comfortable and I feel comfortable," he said. "I know Johnny's U-Pull It is on the corner of Fairfield and Market (in Pensacola)."
As for Bryan, there also is a bright side.
Her husband moved to Tallahassee after they were apart more than six months. He got a promotion at his job, sending him to Bainbridge, Ga., for work. She said they're having a house built there and she won't mind the commute.
"I love my job," she said. "It's fun action, and you can leave it knowing you did a good job providing a community service."