Neighborhood Watch September Meeting Notes

I attended the Western Division monthly meeting on Tuesday evening, September 15, 2009. The topic was how the SD Police Department communication system works. Items of note follow:

The main communications center for 911 is located in the main police facility at 14th and Broadway downtown.

SDPD separates the telephone system (911 and 531-200) from the radio (dispatch) system, unlike most big metro cities.

The 911 system handles more than 100,000 calls a month and is stretched beyond capacity. About 1/3 get an actual police dispatch.

It is far better to use a landline phone to make a 911 call since cell phones "have no address", except the nearest cell tower, and getting an address is the most important piece of information when help is needed. A landline call normally shows up with an address on the SDPD caller ID and is mostly reliable, but they will ask for an addess anyway since occasionally a person may have moved and the phone number/address has not been updated by the phone company.

If a cellphone is used to place a 911 call there is a chance that the call will be automatically routed to the County Sheriff communication center and would then have to be transferred back to SDPD. Their facility is even more overloaded and the wait time for a response could be expanded.

Call police for emergency assistance, not the Block Captain.

It is best to provide the worst news right up front so the 911 operator and dispatcher knows what they're dealing with, along with the address.

The caller may elect to remain anonymous.

At the moment a 911 call comes in the operator begins entering information given by the caller into the computer system, and the information is immediately "live" to the radio dispatch team and to the computer screen in all patrol cars. The public perception (inlcluding mine) that the 911 operator is holding up a dispatch / repsonse while they ask questions and collect information is unfounded.

The recent increase in residential burglaries in the Mission Hills area is being treated with high acuity from the SDPD, however the evidence so far indicates that the vast majority of cases involve unsecured homes (doors/windows open/unlocked, security systems not set).

The public is allowed to sign up for a "sit-along" at the communications center if that is of interest.

Dial 619 532-2000 for non-emergency matters

Dial 211 for general information from the County Office of Emergency Management (non-emergency).

The attached was distributed at the meeting and is provided for your reference.

I am not an attorney or a police officer and provide the foregoing for your information only.

Thanks and please let me know if I can be of any help.

Cheers,

 Jon Luft