State Bill Designed To Update Comm Centers

In the big screen and multiple television police dramas, law enforcement are linked to a communication center blending human compassion with the technology of 21st century version of "Tron" where information moves faster than thought.

The problem is viewers are witnessing 47 minutes of an ideal world, not what daily occurs in most communication centers.

As with any stage of technology, parts wear out, society's demand on what a computer can do changes, and computers improve and therefore outdating the existing systems. The need to keep up with communication options increases when addressing emergency situations. As in any given office, the same occurs in communication centers.

Nebraska Legislative Bill 938 was written to address those needs. First read in January 2016, the Bill is designed to adopt the 911 Service System Act, change a reporting requirement, provide for the transfer of funds, remove obsolete provisions. The Bill also includes the 911 Service System Act.

The Associated Press recently reported the plan is to update the 911 system statewide in 2019. The system will reportedly cost $6.5 million annual and be funded by an existing surcharge on wireless phones. The AP reported 911 Director David Sankey saying the Public Service Commission has a $12 million reserve which would be used for the upgrade.

The idea is to get all of the PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Point) on the same level of technology, according to Heidi Gillespie, director of the Cheyenne County Communications. She said you can only add existing layers to equipment for so long.

"Technology has left us in the dust," she said.

One upgrade Gillespie would like to see is the use of data and voice; text, video and photographs added to existing voice calls. The technology exists for people to text, video chat or send pictures or video to 911.

"We're so far in the dust," she said in reference to up-to-date technology.

She said the smaller the community, the smaller the funding base, and therefore it becomes hard to keep up.

"We just need to catch up," she said.

Gillespie said LB938 will allow advancing into text and video transmission.

"It is a provision that allows us to get to Next Gen 911," she said.

One of the challenges in communication centers is the increasing number of people solely dependent on cell phones. Presently, technology can trace a caller, depending on the service provider, within a reasonable range of the tower. However, finding exact location is the challenge. The better the tower, the more area covered, and therefore harder for a caller to be found.

Gillespie recalls accounts of people calling for help, but the signal was spotty - loss of reception in hills and valleys while driving - and the dispatch center could not get an address from the call. She said in one case, it took about 15 minutes just to find the location of the call.

The Bill also requires all dispatchers to become state certified. Gillespie said there is no mandated training. There used to be a two-week dispatch training program held at the law enforcement training center in Grand Island. That was discontinued. She added she was able to get her staff through the program before it ended. Additionally, she has an eight-week in-house training program, and requires an hour per month yearly training.

"It's going to be nice to have everyone at the same level," she added.

Locally, the technology need is for updating the phone system, technology and training to for the Multi-Media System (MMS).

Gillespie said some of the funding would come from the Department of Homeland Security.

"I'm very excited about it," she said.