Audit Finds Delay in Transferring Calls

A 2009 state audit of 911 call handling in Salt Lake County (Utah) found that calltakers took an average of one minute and 15 seconds before transferring callers to the county sheriff’s comm center, which is required for about two-thirds of the 911 calls received. The Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC) opened in 2001 with plenty of space to accommodate the sheriff’s dispatch operation. However, the sheriff decided not to move to the new center, forcing VECC dispatchers to triage every incoming 911, determine who handles the incident, and then obtain basic information before transferring it. The audit concluded, “The split in the 911 services…creates a potential problem for emergency responders.” VECC dispatches police for nine law enforcement agencies, and all fire agencies in the county. The sheriff dispatches deputies to unincorporated Salt Lake County, and law enforcement for five cities. Two different CAD systems manage the incident and officers. The audit noted that a CAD-to-CAD bridge provides some inter-center coordination, but “duplication still exists in the call-taking process.” Read more about the latest issues here, and download (pdf) the 2009 audit here.