August 16, 2006
Public Safety
Integration Drives Forward with Chamber at the Wheel
Headway made on integration of public safety services
On July 20, the
Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the
Fresno County Board of Supervisors and Fresno City Council, held
a rare joint meeting to discuss crucial items that could be
merged to improve safety and
eliminate duplicate costs to taxpayers.
After decades of
troubled discussion on the topic, city and county officials
voted unanimously to create four committees to begin studying
and gathering information on law enforcement operations. The
Chamber, which has been instrumental in moving the discussion
forward by commissioning an initial review of safety services,
was commended by both city and county officials and asked to
continue its role as facilitator and oversee the ongoing
discussions. Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil
Larson said, “This is an opportunity that we’ve long awaited for
to bring the City Council and Board of Supervisors together to
discuss the issues that affect us both countywide; everyone is
to be commended for participating.”
“It all begins with
a willingness to talk,” Mayor Alan Autry said. In a post 911
world, the number one topic is public safety. I am excited about
today’s meeting. It’s a step we had to take, but it couldn’t be
driven by city or county officials. I am very pleased that a
reputable organization like the Chamber stepped up to see this
through,” Autry said. The four, newly created committees will
consist of equal representation from the city and county,
including representatives from rural cities, facilitated by
Chamber leaders. Areas to be studied by the committees include:
a joint public safety dispatch center, a joint
prisoner-processing facility, a joint property/evidence storage
facility and governance of the process. The committees will have
90 days to make recommendations before reconvening.
While most of the
discourse about prisoner- processing, property and evidence, and
governance went smoothly, the topic of a joint dispatch center
proved to be a bit more difficult. Both the city and county have
differing perspectives as to where such a facility should be
located.
“As sheriff, I have
no preference on site,” Sheriff Richard Pierce said. “Efficiency
is more important, not only for the officers, but for the people
we serve. Efficiency to me is one dispatch center and I have no
preference about where it is.” Presently, the county’s emergency
medical communications center dispatches ambulances to Fresno,
Madera and Kings Counties, including calls for Fresno Fire
Department. This year alone, the center is expected to respond
to nearly 140,000 ambulance calls across the three counties.
“The communications
center is already a model of how governments can work together,”
Dan Lynch, county emergency medical division manager said. “It’s
a service that already dispatches across agencies.” When asked
about the capabilities of a combined center, Lynch added that
such a facility would benefit the public and could easily handle
more than a million calls a year. Supervisor Susan Anderson
moved that a committee be formed to investigate how to expand
the current Southeast Fresno emergency communications center to
include a public safety dispatch center. Supervisors approved
her motion, but the council rejected it.
Councilman Larry Westerlund said, “It’s too early to begin
studying sites. We should first gather information to decide
what we want and what’s possible. That will help us make those
decisions.” After more than three hours of reports and
discussion, city and county officials decided to form the four
information- gathering committees (facilitated by the Chamber)
as well as Anderson’s committee, under county direction as a
subcommittee of the joint public safety dispatch center task
force.
“This is the Board
of Supervisors and City Council working together,” City Council
President Jerry Duncan said. “These efforts are clearly in
the best interest of the taxpayers as we look to improve public
safety and save money.”
Al Smith, Chamber
CEO said, “Members of the City Council and Board of Supervisors
are to be commended for developing a unique forum to address a
vital issue of our city. Public safety is one of the top
concerns of the citizens; we now have an opportunity to improve
that service and look forward to something positive coming out
of this meeting.”
“Sometimes people
get bruised egos,” Westerlund said. “I’d like to ask everyone
put their egos aside and not look at where we differ, but where
we agree. The end product is how do we best serve our citizens?”
