|
April 16, 2002
Unified Communications Center (Cont.)
As excited as I am by the prospects of a new UCC, the MPD is not waiting around for a new facility to be built before some of these reforms are implemented. Our Department is moving aggressively to plan for and implement a number of operational and administrative upgrades prior to the move to the UCC. For example,
- We have begun to review and upgrade our Standard Operating Procedures in a number of operational and administrative areas, to ensure they are current and comprehensive.
- We have already begun a major program of re-training our personnel. Communications staff recently completed customer service training, and will receive training in other areas as well.
- We have begun to examine dispatch priorities, radio communications protocols and other key business processes. For example, we are beginning to research and develop procedures that will enable Communications personnel to dispatch non-emergency calls directly to mobile digital computers in our squad cars. This will reduce voice traffic on our radio system and serve to improve our response to true emergencies.
- We are also moving forward with new staffing plans. The MPD currently has eight new civilian communications workers in training, with seven more in the hiring process. In addition, we recently detailed 20 limited-duty police officers to augment our civilian personnel there. Attracting and keeping qualified personnel is a top priority, and the opening of the UCC will support these efforts.
These and other operational and administrative upgrades will be developed and tested at the PSCC, so that we will be able to move into the UCC with key systems already tested and in place. And, of course, the PSCC will continue to serve as a backup facility, once the UCC opens.
In closing, I want to re-emphasize that for the MPD, the UCC is much more than a building – although the building itself will provide important features that will enhance security and employee productivity. The UCC is much more than new technology – although the technological platform it offers will help improve our operations, now and into the future. And the UCC is much more than a new way of doing business – although our planned business process improvements should produce tangible results for our customers. What the UCC represents is an opportunity – an opportunity to make important improvements in emergency and non-emergency communications in the short term, and an opportunity to continue building and improving into the future.
Thank you very much.
Page 3 of 3  1 2 3 |
|
