Protocols
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Protocol Committee Meeting
March 12, 2003
10:30a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Minutes
Location: Bay Area Legal Aid, 50 Fell Street, San Francisco
In Attendance:
Cynthia Alexis, District Attorney's Office, Victim Services
Sergio Calizo, Adult Probation Department
Barbara Brooten-Job, Justice and Courage Oversight Panel
Susan Fahey, Sheriff's Department
Barbara Kempster, Emergency Communications Department
Rachel Kilshaw, Police Department, Domestic Violence Response Unit
Ken Theisen, Bay Area Legal Aid
Mary Twomey, Institute on Aging, Consortium for Elder Abuse Prevention Rosario Navarrette, DOSW, Deputy Director
Justine McGonagle, DOSW, Justice and Courage Coordinator
Introductions/Roll Call
The meeting was called to order and facilitated by Barbara Brooten-Job. Cynthia Alexis agreed to take minutes for this meeting.
Minutes
The minutes for the months of January and February 2003 were reviewed and approved.
Review of Questions from the Oversight Panel:
The questions from the Oversight Panel were reviewed. It was agreed that none of the questions were applicable to committee members in attendance. The committee agreed to revisit and review the questions monthly as presentations are made to the group.
Community-based Involvement:
Ms. Twomey suggested Linda Bradford of Women, Inc. as a new member of the Protocol Committee. Twomey inquired about the process for recruiting new members. Ms. Navarrette stated that individuals who are interested in participating in the Committee should prepare a statement of interest and submit a resume to DOSW. Ms. Navarrette stated that community-based agencies, including directors and staff, are welcomed and encouraged to participate. However, they will need to go through the same review and approval process as existing committee members. It is desirable to have names of individuals presented to the Committee before inviting them to become members.
Merging of the Interdepartmental Committee:
It was decided the interdepartmental Committee would not merge with the Protocol Committee. However, it was requested that these two committees establish a protocol for communicating with each other to enhance communication and avoid duplication of effort. The ICC Committee will now consist of the co-chairs of all committees. The co-chairs of all the committees will meet on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 from 3:30 pm -5:00 pm at the Sheriff's Office. The committee co-chairs will discuss ways to avoid duplication. The meeting is open to the public.
Presentation:
Barbara Kempster, dispatcher for the Emergency Communications Department (ECD), provided a detailed presentation of the ECD and the handling of domestic violence calls. The presentation began with an overview of how calls are identified and triaged. ECD receives approximately 4,000 calls a day with approximately 24 people who answer incoming calls, rotating their tasks from answering the phones to working on other channels. There are a minimum of 12 people per shift taking incoming calls and approximately 12 people working on the channels. There are 3 major work shifts and some overlapping. The ECD day begins with daily briefings to talk about concerns and review the latest updates. Ms. Kempster stated that each received call lasts an average of 3 minutes, but the dispatcher will stay on the phone with the victim if she/he requests. The dispatcher verifies important information from the victim such as address, phone number, detailed description of any suspect, location of incident, general situation assessment and any other relevant information.
Dispatchers also answer calls for "Well Being Checks" when needed. A "Well Being Check" can be a return call of a partially dialed call to 911. Dispatchers call back ensuring the call was not a disrupted "911" call and that nothing is wrong at the location. If the dispatcher feels that the call is vague or suspicious then she/he will send the police. There has been an increase of these calls with the availability of cell phones. Ms. Kempster noted that most assessments of the situation are based on the dispatcher's years of experience and judgment as to whether a call is suspicious and a follow-up by police is necessary.
If no police action is needed, then the call is logged with an event description. Ms. Kempster distributed the "ECD Dispatcher Calls for Service, " which includes basic intake information, and how calls are prioritized for service/response.
Some concerns of Committee members during the presentation include the following: (1) only new dispatchers receive the most up-dated training, yet veteran dispatchers attend training on their own time without getting compensation. (2) There are no psychological counselors available to ECD staff. This is important because dispatchers do not get to find out the outcome to many of the violent and disturbing situations that they are confronted and experience secondary trauma. (3) There was speculation that attempted suicides due to domestic violence may outweigh domestic violence homicide. (4) Private ambulance agencies and suicide hotlines may not be trained to respond to domestic violence incidents or have the training to recognize such callers. (5) Cell phones generate a new set of challenges for the ECD. Presently, cell phones outnumber home phones, leading to an increase of "911" calls from 2,500 to 4,000 calls daily. Also, ECD cannot pinpoint exact location of cell phones calls because the satellite location is identified. There was discussion about the possibility of having a public awareness campaign for cell phone users who are faced with an emergency situation to get them to inform ECD of their immediate location.
There was discussion about "Man Alive" (a batters treatment program) being open until 5 p.m. during the week and closed on weekends. There needs to be a place for batters to call if they seek immediate counseling by calling ECD.
One suggestion was to develop a training manual made available on their computer screen(s) for resources for all ECD staff. Due to a lack of time the presentation was continued to the next meeting.
Next Meeting:
April 9, 2003, Bay Area Legal Aid, 50 Fell Street, 10:30 am -12:00 pm. Emergency Communications will continue the presentation and the Police Department will present next.
