COMMAND AND CONTROL

Command and control is the task of maximizing administration efficiency while taking the necessary pro-active steps to avoid litigation.  One of the ways this is done is to  provide a means of recording telephone and radio calls.  If you provide services to the public, whether fire, police, or utility, you are at risk to anyone who decides to take you to court.  It can be as serious as someone claiming that a life was lost as a result of late arrival.  It can be as trivial as a case reported by the City of Graysville Alabama.

When asked for specific benefits of a logging recorder, the answer from Chief Carter of the Graysville Police Department came quickly - better administrative control, complaint resolution, and reduced cost of litigation.  The call logging system serves not only the police and fire department calls but those of the City Utility Board as well.  A recent complainant said that a city employee cussed her out.  Whatever compromise or settlement sought by the complainant was quickly put to rest when the Mayor pulled the recording and offered to replay the call.  In this particular case, it was known that the employee had never been known to use profanity on pretty good authority - she was Chief Carter's mother in law!

The date and time information digitally embedded in the CD archive file provides the highest level of reporting accuracy.  In a contested situation, this capability is extremely useful to law enforcement users.  Most importantly, according to Chief Carter, the digital recording system helps in meeting the major operational criteria of the department - actually an extension of his personal philosophy.  There is always the concern that the wrong person could be convicted of a crime.  The more information you have, the less likely that could happen.  There are three major problems when the wrong person is convicted.  The first is the conviction of an innocent person.  The second is the real criminal remains free, and lastly, justice isn't served. 

If an additional level of assurance that justice is served can be acquired for less than forty cents per hour, the use of a voice logging recorder probably makes sense for others as well.

A communications console is another valuable tool in the dispatch center.  Being a dispatcher is a lot like being a fireman.  You are either ideling or running at full throttle!  To set up a perfect dispatch center would involve assigning a dispatcher for every officer in the field.  Since this isn't possible, a comprimise is necessary based on average requirements.  Unfortunately, there is no such thing as average.  The result is that the dispatcher often has the near impossible task of trying to handle the needs of different personnel at simultaneous events.

The City of Sumiton is a case in point.  Four different frequencies are monitored Police, Fire, Statenet, SouthernLINC, and Utilities.  Sometimes several calls came come in at the same time.  A console allows the dispatcher to select or prioritize radio calls.  When necessary, it is possbile to cross connect different radio system users and/or telephone users.  This provides more flexibility, greater efficiency, and vitially needed interoperability between agencies, both within the city as well as with adjoining communities.