15-01 DISPATCHING, DELAYED RESPONSE PROCEDURES, AND EXCEPTION REPORTS

DISPATCHING, DELAYED RESPONSE PROCEDURES, AND EXCEPTION REPORTS

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this directive is to ensure dispatchers and watch deputies are actively managing calls for service and assigning calls to minimize the number of calls that exceed our station goal response times, referred to as "over threshold." Maximum thresholds for the Department are discussed in FOD 90-12. However, the station has the ability to set realistic and appropriate goals commensurate with the expectations of the unincorporated communities and contract city served by this station. As such, thresholds have been reset as shown:

• Emergent - 5 minutes
• Priority - 7 minutes
• Routine - 30 minutes

The response time rule, known as the 7/30 rule, was established to ensure station response times were met. The rule was not intended to obligate a patrol deputy to respond within the established time frames when it was unreasonable to do so. The procedures set forth below establish the duties and responsibilities of all personnel involved in the assignment, management, and handling of service calls when the 7/30 rule cannot be met. It also clarifies the roles and responsibilities of supervisors to oversee the desk operation and conduct daily audits to ensure compliance with this order.

The following procedures are intended to increase accountability and ensure calls are properly being dispatched, tracked by dispatchers, and actively monitored by watch deputies. Load balancing, monitoring status of all pending calls and

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availability of units in the field requires continual "real time" attention by the dispatcher, watch deputy, field sergeant, and watch commander.

POLICY:

This order references the following Department policies:

• FIELD OPERATIONS DIRECTIVE 90-12, STATION DESK PROCEDURE/RELAYED RESPONSE POLICY
• FIELD OPERATIONS DIRECTIVE 04-03, STATION DESK AND FRONT COUNTER OPERATIONS

SCOPE OF ORDER:

This directive applies to all personnel assigned to patrol, as well as the dispatcher, watch deputy, watch sergeant, field sergeant and watch commander positions at Carson Station.

DIRECTIVE:

DELAYED RESPONSE PROCEDURES

Patrol Deputy

As mentioned above, the 7/30 response time rule, does not obligate you to respond within the established time frames when it is unreasonable to do so.

However, a patrol deputy shall do the following:

• Advise the watch deputy or dispatcher, verbally or via MDC, that you will be extended beyond the 7 or 30 minute threshold, respectively. Advise as to the anticipated length and reason for the delay.
• Indicate in the service call's clearance narrative the notification was made to the watch deputy or dispatcher (i.e., W/D 914N) and note the reason for the delay.

Dispatcher

• Upon receiving a patrol deputy's notification regarding a service call delay, the dispatcher shall evaluate the current resource allocation and current volume of calls to determine whether to re-assign the call. The dispatcher shall either re-assign the call for service and/or notify the informant of the delay. The notification shall be logged in the remarks section of the call by typing, "informant advised of delay," or "IAD."
• If there is an incident requiring a large resource allocation and service call delays are anticipated to be lengthy, the dispatcher or his designate must advise the informant of the delay as soon as possible and enter the notification (IAD) in the remarks section of the call.

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• Regardless of whether the dispatcher receives a notification from a patrol deputy about a service call delay, the dispatcher or his designate shall advise the field sergeant if the timer for any 7/30 call expires twice or  more.

Watch Deputy

• Upon receiving a patrol deputy's notification regarding a service call delay, the watch deputy shall advise the dispatcher about the delay. The watch deputy and/or the dispatcher, shall evaluate the current resource allocation and current volume of calls to determine whether to re-assign the call. The watch deputy and/or the dispatcher shall ensure the informant is advised of the delay and ensure such notification is logged in the remarks section of the call as, "informant advised of delay," or "IAD."

Field Sergeant

• Upon receiving a dispatcher's notification regarding continued timer expirations, the field sergeant shall check the unit status of the concerned patrol unit and ensure the unit's ability to respond to the service call. The field sergeant shall continue to monitor the subsequent response activity, and, if necessary, the field sergeant shall request the dispatcher re-assign the call.

• If the field sergeant requests a call's re-assignment, the field sergeant shall assign himself to the call and indicate in the remarks section the reason for re-assignment and any other actions taken.

• The field sergeant shall monitor field response activities once per hour by checking "Waiting Incident" status and "Assigned Incident" status via the MDC. If necessary, the field sergeant shall communicate with the dispatcher and handling patrol unit to address any present or potential response time concerns.

Watch Sergeant

• The shift watch sergeant shall monitor field response activities once per hour by checking "Waiting Incident" status and "Assigned Incident" status via the CAD terminal. The shift sergeant shall communicate with the dispatcher and field sergeant, if necessary, to address any present or potential response time concerns.

Watch Commander

• The shift watch commander shall monitor field response activities once per hour by checking "Waiting Incident" status and "Assigned Incident" status via the CAD terminal. If necessary, the watch commander shall communicate with the dispatcher, handling patrol unit, and field sergeant to address any present or potential response time concerns.

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Watch Deputy

All personnel assigned to the watch deputy position shall be responsible for the following:

1. Print a copy of the Exception Report from CAD for the shift 24-hours prior.

2. Review the report for log errors.

3. If there are any log errors they must be corrected during that shift, notify the author of the log or the error either personally or via email.

4. Errors discovered on each deputies Deputy Daily Work Sheet (DDWS) shall be recorded on the "Over Threshold Auditing" Excel document matrix under the "Other Errors" tab.

5. Complete the "Over Threshold" audit of calls by recording the reason each call on the Exception Report exceeded the time threshold. A detailed explanation regarding the delay is required for each listed call.

6. Update the 'Time Expirations" tab. Record the explanation each time the call was reset as reflected on the exception report.

7. No explanation is necessary if the same call was already addressed in the "Over Threshold" tab.

8. When the review is complete, the watch deputy will notify the watch sergeant.

Watch Sergeant

All personnel assigned to the watch sergeant position shall be responsible for the following:

1. The watch sergeant shall reconcile the exception report and ensure the Excel "Over Threshold Auditing" document tabs are correct and there are no errors reflected on the deputy's DDWS.

2. The watch sergeant shall review the explanations noted in the Over Threshold Auditing document and note their initials along the right column of the entry.

3. The watch sergeant shall examine the exception report denoting timer expirations. In any instance where the timer expirations for a 7/30 call occurred twice or more, the watch sergeant shall examine the call details and ensure the call was handled as outlined above.

4. When the review is completed, the watch sergeant shall advise the watch commander of the completed review and any deficiencies noted.

Watch Commander

All personnel assigned to the watch commander position shall be responsible for ensuring adherence to this order. Watch commanders shall verify the audits

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have been completed during their tour of duty and notate that on the watch commander's log. Any notable concerns discovered, discrepancies or issues unable to be resolved or corrected may be included on the log or handled via memorandum to the unit commander.

Oversight

The lieutenant with the collateral oversight of desk operations shall regularly monitor for compliance with this order. Any notable concerns should be corrected and/or brought to the unit commander's attention at the earliest possible opportunity.