Brentwood Set to Discuss Creation of Police Dispatch Center at $1.83 Million Annual Cost

During tonight’s Brentwood City Council meeting, the council will hear a recommendation from staff to establish its own police dispatch-communication center.

The staff is citing cost, population increase, and service levels as a reason to break away from the Antioch Police Department and create their own dispatch center. The move will increase Brentwood General Fund Operational budget by $1 million.

According to the staff report, if approved, it will cost Brentwood $1.5 million in one-time costs, and another $1.8 million per year to operate. Currently, Brentwood is paying Antioch just $845,459 to share a dispatch center.

Here is a look at the Staff Report below:

BACKGROUND

For over 20 years, the City of Brentwood has contracted with the City of Antioch for police dispatch services. We have enjoyed a good relationship with Antioch, and the men and women of the Antioch Police Department are true professionals. The staff in the Antioch Dispatch Center needs to be commended for their hard work and professionalism while working under extremely difficult conditions.

A lot has changed over the past 20 years. Populations have increased in both the City of Antioch and the City of Brentwood, and calls for police services have increased significantly in both cities. With this anticipated growth, the City of Brentwood has always known that contracting our police dispatch services was not going to be a permanent solution.

For a number of years, the City of Brentwood has been planning to establish our own police dispatch/communications center when it becomes necessary and both operationally and fiscally feasible. A study was conducted in 2010, which identified the requirements to establish the center. The location has already been identified within the existing police department building, and the room has been pre-wired for a dispatch center. The City of Brentwood has already obtained the required frequencies.

This report provides the current status of police dispatch services, calls for service numbers, issues and challenges with dispatch services, options for dispatch services, the advantages and disadvantages of having our own dispatch center, next steps, and the fiscal impacts associated with the creation of a new Brentwood dispatch center.

Population

The following chart shows a population comparison for both cities for 2001 and 2014. (click to enlarge)

Issues of Concern

As both cities continue to grow, there are more demands placed on both police departments.

Due to these growing demands, it is becoming more difficult for both agencies to share a dispatch center. The staff in the Antioch Dispatch Center is doing the best they can with the resources they have available, and they have done a miraculous job given the circumstances.

However, due to these increased demands, there are some problems that are potentially compromising 911 services for the citizens of Brentwood. Though the Antioch Police Department has been responsive when dealing with many of these issues, the problems continue to occur.

I Quality of 911 Services

In a recent incident, a Brentwood resident called 911 and the dispatch center did not answer the call. Antioch PD acknowledged that this did occur due to the system being overloaded by a large critical incident.
Brentwood residents have reported being placed on hold for long periods of time after calling 911.
There have been instances when the non-emergency line has been busy or not answered. Residents have reported that they have been placed on hold for long periods of time.
There is a delay in lower priority Brentwood calls being dispatched because of the large amount of high priority calls coming in from Antioch residents. Those calls must take priority.
Brentwood residents have reported instances of rudeness by the 911 operators.

II Staffing Levels

There are open positions in the Dispatch Center that have not been filled, and based on the call demands this has an impact on the level of service provided to the citizens of Brentwood. It is clear that the Antioch Police Department leadership has wanted staffing restored, but this has been out of their control. They do not have enough staff to deal with the workload.
One of the most critical aspects of any 911 center is to ensure they are adequately staffed by both dispatchers and 911 call takers. Dispatchers sit at the radio consoles and dispatch calls. 911 call takers answer the phone lines. With the downturn in the economy, it is public knowledge that the City of Antioch has cut back on City staff including staff in the Police Department.

III. Police Officer Efficiency and Safety

Due to the high volume of Antioch calls for service, the response to Brentwood calls for service can get delayed. This has affected service to both our residents and our police officers.
The volume of air traffic has increased, and our officers are competing with Antioch officers for air time. This is causing our officers to reduce their requests for information, which is affecting efficiency and officer safety.
There has been a noticeable delay in officer inquires for records checks and other information. Officers will occasionally have to return to their vehicles to retrieve information, which wastes time and could compromise an officer’s safety.
A “Code Red” is when a major incident has occurred and dispatch has requested officers stop all self-initiated activity. With the size of Antioch and their increase in criminal activity, we are seeing more of these requests. This compromises our ability to conduct proactive police work within the City of Brentwood, such as vehicle stops or stops of suspicious persons.

IV. Technology and Equipment

The equipment in the Antioch Dispatch center is old and in need of upgrading. We recently experienced an incident where the Dispatch Center computers were shut down due to an equipment failure. Antioch staff dealt with the issue as quickly as possible, but there is a fear that this could happen again. There is no indication that Antioch is going to update their equipment anytime soon.
The Antioch Dispatch Center was recently audited by the State, and they were told they did not have enough 911 lines.
Brentwood has made several upgrades to our communications equipment over the past few years, but Antioch has not. We cannot take full advantage of our technology upgrades until Antioch upgrades their equipment.
Several years ago, most jurisdictions in both Contra Costa County and Alameda County committed to a new, regional communications system that will enhance our local radio communications and improve our regional interoperability. The system is called the East Bay Regional Communications System (EBRCS). For example if we experience a large earthquake, the new system will allow agencies from all across the Bay Area to speak with each other. Brentwood now has over 1 million dollars in enhanced radio equipment that cannot be fully utilized.

Dispatch Options

In examining the different options for dispatch services, staff has identified a total of four. However, only two are actually viable. Staff is recommending that the City move forward with option 2.

Remain with the Antioch Police Department.

Earlier this year, staff met with Antioch to revise the dispatch agreement. Council and staff wanted specific performance measures included in the contract in order to hold Antioch more accountable for deficiencies in service. Though specific performance measures could not be agreed upon, we were able to establish a number of “service goals” in an effort to address some of the concerns. If Council decides to go with this option, staff will continue to work with Antioch to improve the service issues identified in this report.

For the 2014/15 FY the City pays $845,459 to Antioch for dispatch services. Assuming a 6% annual cost increase the annual dispatch payment to Antioch projects to reach $1.5 million in fiscal year 2024/25.

Establish our own dispatch/communications center.

This is the best solution, but the most costly solution. The benefits of having our own dispatch center are outlined below. As you will see in the “Fiscal Impacts” section of this report, it will require approximately 1.5 million in one-time start up costs, and the annual operations budget will increase by approximately 1 million per year. It will take approximately 18 – 24 months to establish the center, and we must provide Antioch with a 12 month notice to sever the contract.

A Dispatch/Communications Center has been included in the City’s Developer Fee Program since 1999, although previous projections were that the project would be funded in 2019/20. The savings from the refinance of the 2004A&B, 2004C, 2005-1 and 2006-1 CIFP Bonds, which closed in October 2014, will provide the City with additional flexibility to fund the capital costs in the accelerated Dispatch Center timeframe.

There has been some inquiry as to the possibility of bringing on other agencies as clients if we establish our own dispatch center. This idea should be examined in more detail at a later time. The decision to establish our own dispatch center should not be based on what other jurisdictions might do in the future.

Contract dispatch services with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.

This option is cost prohibitive. All police agencies have their own Records Management System (RMS) and Computer Aided Dispatch system (CAD). These systems must be the same to share a dispatch center. Brentwood and Antioch use a company called DATA911. The Sheriff’s Office uses a company called Tiburon. They use completely different products. A Tiburon system equivalent to our fully customized Data911 system would cost approximately $2 million dollars, with an estimated annual maintenance fee of $100,000. The police department has over fifteen years invested in customizing our

Data911 system to meet the needs of the City. An example of this is our Data911 system’s interface with the Mobile Digital Video, Vievu body cameras, Coplogic on-line reports, Live Scan, Crime Analysis, and Public Crime Mapping Site.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office provides dispatching service to Contra Costa Animal Control, Danville Police Department, Lafayette Police Department, Los Medanos College Police Department, Moraga Police Department, Pittsburg Police Department, Oakley Police Department, Orinda Police Department, Rio Vista Police Department, San Ramon Police Department, and their own Sheriff’s Office. A number of these agencies contract with the County for law enforcement and dispatch services, while the other agencies contract with the County for dispatch services only. There is a concern that if our department contracted dispatch services with the Sheriff’s Office we would experience some of the same issues of concern we are currently experiencing with Antioch Dispatch.

The estimated annual dispatching fee for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office is $700,000.

Contract dispatch services with the Pleasant Hill Police Department.

Outside of Brentwood and Antioch, Pleasant Hill is the only other agency in the entire region that uses DATA911 and shares the same RMS and CAD systems. They do have their own dispatch center. Pleasant Hill is a smaller city than Brentwood and has a smaller police department. We reached out to them last year to see if they would have any interest in providing dispatch services for the City of Brentwood. After reviewing some numbers, Pleasant Hill communicated to us that they had no interest in bringing us on as a client.

Advantages of a Brentwood Dispatch/Communications Center

These are the advantages to having our own dispatch/communications center:

Brentwood residents will always receive priority treatment.
We will control recruitment, hiring, and staffing levels.
We will have complete control over the quality of service being provided to our citizens.
911 Calls will be dispatched faster, which will improve response times and customer satisfaction.
Brentwood citizens will experience immediate improvement when calling 911 or the non-emergency number.
Officer efficiencies will improve.
Officer safety will be enhanced.
Data storage and retrieval will be improved.
We will have the ability to ensure the best equipment is utilized and properly maintained.
We will be able to properly utilize our enhanced technology and fully participate in the EBRCS system.

Disadvantages of a Brentwood Dispatch/Communications Center

These are the disadvantages to having our own dispatch/communications center:

The fiscal impact is significant. Opening the dispatch center will require an additional 1 million dollars yearly. This will impact the City’s ability to fund other projects and programs, and limit the City’s ability to add sworn and civilian staff positions in the future.
Dispatch centers are a 24/7 operation that must be adequately staffed at all times. Management of these centers is stressful, and overtime budgets can be exhausted quickly. Even when anticipating this, there will be times when additional funds are required to keep the center operating effectively.
Due to the shared dispatch center, the communication and coordination between Brentwood and Antioch at the patrol officer level has been very good. Since we share a border, this has been beneficial to both communities. Once we move to our own dispatch center, communication and coordination will decrease.

Next Steps

If Council approves option 2, staff will take the following steps:

Staff will hire an outside consulting firm to finalize the plans for establishing our own dispatch/communications center including an updated equipment list and project timeline.
Staff will develop a detailed funding plan.
The consultant report and funding plan will be brought back to Council for approval.
Required permits and licenses will be obtained from the proper authorities to include the State of California and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The required notifications will be made to the City of Antioch to communicate our intent to sever our dispatching contract.
All the required equipment will be purchased, installed, and tested.
Staff will recruit, hire, and train all new staff for the dispatch/communications center.
The new Brentwood Dispatch/Communications Center will open within 18-24 months.

Conclusion

The men and women of the Antioch Police Department are dedicated professionals. They work hard to provide good police services to their citizens, and they are committed public safety practitioners. Over the past several years, policing demands have increased while they have seen their staffing decrease. They have had to do more with less, and they should be commended for their continued efforts.

Those increased demands and staffing reductions are naturally going to impact service levels in all areas of their department. Since we share a dispatch center, we are going to experience some of those impacts. As mentioned earlier, we knew that contracting our police dispatch services would not be a permanent solution, and we have been planning to establish our own dispatch center at some point. Based on the information provided in this report, Council needs to decide if that time is now.

FISCAL IMPACT

The new Dispatch Center has been included in the Developer Fee Program since 1999 as a component of the developer paid Community Facility Fee. The City had previously planned for the Dispatch Center to be funded through the Community Facility Fees in fiscal year 2019/20 at a cost of $1.5 million. The Community Facility Fees can only be spent for capital projects and cannot be used for ongoing operational costs.

The Community Facility Fee fund currently has $1.6 million in cash and as such sufficient funds are currently available to fund the project. In order to accommodate the accelerated timeline of the Dispatch Center project, however, other project funding may need to be reprioritized. The savings from the refinance of the 2004A&B, 2004C, 2005-1 and 2006-1 CIFP Bonds, which closed in October 2014, will provide the City with additional flexibility to accommodate the capital costs associated with the accelerated Dispatch Center timeframe.

Total dispatch annual operating costs are estimated at $1,839,934 which would be offset by current dispatch contract costs of $845,459 leaving needed funding of $994,475. Sources of funding for ongoing costs could come from the increase in property tax revenue, additional CFD revenues resulting from increased development activity or a combination of increased revenues and reduced expenditures. Although development activity over the past few years has exceeded projections, a decline from current levels over the next ten year period would require identifying additional revenue sources or expenditure cuts to fund the ongoing operational costs of the Dispatch Center.

The interim City Manager believes that the cost can be absorbed by closely monitoring revenues and expenditures. For example, since August, two general fund vacancies have occurred due to retirement and an individual taking a position with another agency. Those positions have not been filled. If organizational changes can be made to accomplish City goals, but reduce staffing by two, there is a potential saving of $250,000/yr. As Council is aware, revenues, particularly property tax, are generally improved due to the end of the recession.

(click to enlarge images)