Rutherford county Sheriff’s Office 911 COMMUNICATIONS

Welcome 2015 Citizens Police Academy Lt. Tammy Aldridge, 911 Director F/Sgt. Roman Scruggs, Assistant 911 Director Have a Great Day! Ask at any time, even if it’s about something I haven’t talked about. Housekeeping – Restrooms are out and around the corner. Don’t use the water fountains. We have bottled water in the back.

Purpose and Goals To give you an overall look at the 9-1-1 To give you a better understanding of what Rutherford County 9-1-1 Communications does for Rutherford County. Discuss why we do things the way we do them 3

Agencies Served Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Rutherfordton Police Department Spindale Police Department Lake Lure Police Department Forest City Police Department

EMS and RESCUE Rutherford County EMS Hickory Nut Gorge Rutherford County Rescue

Fire Departments Bills Creek * Hudlow * Bostic * Lake Lure * Cherry Mtn * Rutherfordton * Chimney Rock Sandy Mush Cliffside * SDO Ellenboro * Shingle Hollow * Fairfield * Spindale Forest City * Union Mills Green Hill * We dispatch for 17 Fire Departments, 12 of which are first responders.

A Little More Information Population served – Approximately 68,500 Area covered - 565 square miles Calls (2013) 170,510 inbound/outbound calls Total Calls for Service 91,970 41,096 of those came in on 911 9-1-1 Staff 18 Full Time Director Assistant Director 16 Telecommunicator's 4 of which are Shift Supervisors 5 of which serve as CTO’s 7 Part Time Staff Our overall calls for service have increased to 4,424 since 2012.

Our Shifts Day Shift 3-4 people minimum 6:00am-6:00pm One Telecommunicator works 9:00 am-9:00 pm Evening Shift 3-4 people minimum 6:00pm-6:00am One Telecommunicator works 3:00 pm-3:00am We have 5 TC’s from 3:00pm-9:00pm We drop to 3 TC’s at 3:00am-9:00am

Who we are & What we do We are the first-first responders. The first on the scene when we answer the call This initiates a chain of events that can be simple or complex depending on the nature of the incident What we do are the behind the scenes actions; initiating, monitoring, updating, etc… BASICALLY WHAT A TELECOMMUNICATOR OR DISPATCHER IS, IS A FIRST-FIRST RESPONDER… WHEN SOMEONE CALLS IN WE ARE THE FIRST PEOPLE GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT WHATEVER INCIDENT IS TAKING PLACE. 3RD BULLET=RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITH OFFICERS—USE TRAFFIC STOPS AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WE DO AS FAR AS BEHIND THE SCENES-RUNNING PLATES, PEOPLE, THINGS, ETC... We are handling all radio traffic for PD and FD/EMS. Changing and monitoring unit status.

What we do What are the behind the scenes actions? Radio Communications Dispatch – Update – and - Relay Unit Status Assign - Update – Send back up DCI/DMV/NCIC/NC Aware Warrants/Wanted Persons– Record Checks - Stolen items – OLN and License Plate inquiry Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Medical Instructions Phone Calls/Notifications Tows – Utilities – Other agencies Accessing other independent operations and systems I call it “behind the scenes” b/c that may be how it is viewed from an officers point of view or a “callers” point of view. But to us it’s our job and we are most defnitely not behind the scenes when you look at the progression of an incident.

How 911 Works Your location determines where the call goes Tower Site We get the call Process the call Transfer if needed Refer if needed The appropriate response is sent based on information provided by caller Now that you have all been educated Different ways refers to 911 within city limits and outside city limits. Got a cell call from a guy in Gary Indiana reporting 10-50.

What We Need Location! Address Business Name Intersection Hundred Block Location is the single most important piece of information we can get Know where you are at!!

What We Need What? Accident, fire, weapons, suspicious vehicle When? Few hours ago, yesterday, just now! Who? Stranger, mom, dad, sister, brother, etc… Your name Your callback number How? Fell? With a knife? on purpose? On accident? Other Essential Information? Weapons? Intoxicated? Questioning does not slow down the response time. Those questions are required by policy, but more importantly get info to people who need it. Emergencies - While the call taker is asking questions the dispatcher already has the call info and is dispatching it. Call back number in case we lose contact.

Why so many questions? Responder Safety EMD Painting the Picture Proper Record Keeping We are required by Directive to ask We ask questions in order to paint a picture for the responding units be they pd or fd/EMS. The clearer the picture the better prepared they are. Also safer for responders and citizens. We do not want our field units going in “blind”. Provide EMD cards to pass around classroom

Cellular vs. Landline 911 Landline What we need Hardwired Location/Address Call back number Name Responsible Agency or Agencies We still need to confirm this info. The location/TX # can be wrong and we don’t know you’re the person who’s name is on the screen. We are required to ask and confirm address and city for every call – This helps ensure we are sending help to the correct location.

Cellular 911 Phase 0 Phase I Phase II-February 2006 GPS Tower Triangulation 75 % of 911 calls are from cellular phones. Describe Phase 0, I, II Use the whiteboard to illustrate Phase II triangulation

Cellular 911 This is not an exact science Know your location! FCC requires that plotting be accurate between 50-300 meters depending on technology being used GPS – Global Positioning Satellite Tower - Triangulation 50 meters is about 164 feet 300 meters is almost 1000 feet Know your location! It is estimated about 70% of 911 calls are placed from wireless phones and that percentage is growing.

Cell Towers

Questions? Anything you want to discuss?

Now we are ready to visit where all of this takes place “9-1-1” Now let’s visit The Radio Room