Protocols
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Justice and Courage Project
Protocols Committee
April 9, 2003, 10:30a.m.-12:00p.m.
Minutes
Location: Bay Area Legal Aid,50 Fell Street, San Francisco
In Attendance:
Cynthia Alexis, District Attorney’s Office, Victim Services
Ken Theisen, Bay Area Legal Aid
Sharon Woo, District Attorney’s Office
Art Faro, Adult Probation Department
Barbara Brooten-Job, Justice and Courage Oversight Panel
Susan Fahey, Sheriff’s Department
Barbara Kempster, Emergency Communications Department
Catherine Mercado, DOSW, Intern
Justine McGonagle, DOSW, Justice and Courage Coordinator
Donna Medley, Office of Citizen Complaints
Introduction
The meeting was called to order by Barbara Brooten-Job and members introduced themselves. March 13, 2003 minutes were approved with minor changes.
Review of the Emergency Communication Department’s Protocols
Barbara Kempster, ECD dispatcher, made a presentation about procedures at ECD.
There was discussion around the percentage of domestic violence calls to ECD. Ms. Kempster distributed two charts of calls received by ECD. The % of domestic violence calls to total calls was not known at ECD. There was discussion as to why the number of domestic violence calls is less than in the past. In 1991 or 1992 there were 9286 DV calls to 911. There was question as to whether the current charts are an accurate reflection of DV calls. This led to a discussion as to whether dispatchers are adequately trained to code DV calls.
Ms. Kempster and others advocated training by the police and the DA for ECD staff. There needs to be minimal DV training for everyone at ECD, not just new personnel.
There was further discussion about service of Emergency Protective Orders and Restraining Orders. Ms. Kempster described the procedure followed to serve Emergency Protective Orders.
There was also discussion of the ability of ECD to highlight “premise hazard” calls on the computer. Due to legal reasons this is not done on the computers. But chalk board and post-its are used to do this. This appeared to be highly inefficient to the Committee.
There are no written DV protocols for ECD. The ECD also lacks consistent DV training.
Donna Medley asked questions about DV codes.
Ken Theisen asked if there is anything on the computer that “red flags” a weapons history for DV calls. The answer was no.
The Committee discussed re-occurring offences for different addresses. It appears to the Committee that there is a large hole in the ECD system for identifying re-occurring offences when calls involved different addresses.
Other Issues/Comments
Ms. Alexis raised the issue of how to deal with cultural and language problems. There was not time to discuss cultural competency issues at that meeting and the Committee will take up the issue at a future Protocol Committee meeting.
Schedule Next Meeting
At the next meeting the Committee agreed it would try to identify problems and to recommend protocol solutions for ECD.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at noon.
