Weblog JOU 4181

In general, I feel that Hillsborough County runs a very good government. No government is perfect, and each one certainly has its low points, but overall I think they do a good job.

For the Sheriff’s Office and the Jail, there is always a lot of bad press. Especially this year when the paraplegic got dumped from his chair and Callaway made a mistake and said “My Bad”. But then the panel that reviewed the jail showed that they actually run a very efficient operation. All the agencies impressed me with the way they are moving into the 21st century with having good technology.

People tend to think Government is their enemy. These people usually think of it just like that, too: Government, with a capital G, as some monolithic entity that is after your money and out to make life inconvenient for you. And it is true there is a lot of bureaucracy and red tape in government. But it is there to help you, and really the issue is lack of involvement in government’s affairs. From the public meetings we attended, we noticed that the actual “public” was sparse or invisible.

The availability of public records may be hindered by the public officials’ issues with delivering them, and they do need more training. However, I found that my experience with doing my profile that the staff was more than accomodating. But even still, the people need to be more involved, tracking what their government is doing and how their elected officials are voting.

Because the volume of work required to do this would be too great for the average citizen, it falls on the role of the journalist. The government correspondents get paid to go and find out these things and report them to the citizenry so they can be better informed. However, lately media has fallen under the spell of sensationalism, the sound bite, and partisan-biased reporting. This has shaken the public’s confidence in the media. Also, the cost of newspapers is no longer worth the quality in cases such as the new Tribune format. The rise of the internet has also led to the decline of newspapers…who’s going to pay for what they get for free? But for local government reporting, newspapers are still the citizens’ best bet.

I think both the papers and the government could do better in advertising public meetings. Usually if there is an issue that may be important, it isn’t in the paper until the day it happens, which may be too late for some people to schedule going. And unless you have a good reason (like, say, a Public Affairs Reporting class), you aren’t going to be checking the Hillsborough County website’s calendar on a daily basis.

I think this class has given me a little more faith in my public officials than I may have had before. Seeing them in person, and not just newspaper photos, makes you see them in a different light. But I think the real changes for Hillsborough County have begun after this election. The defeats of Brian Blair and Buddy Johnson will hopefully restore some confidence in the County Commission and the Elections Office.

Robert Evan Turner is the Property Appraiser for Hillsborough County. This is an elected position, and he took office in January of 1997. It is a partisan position, and Turner is a Republican. The job of the property appraiser is to set the values for homes and other buildings. They do not set the tax rate, the County Commission does. They do not collect the taxes, the Tax Collector’s office does.

THE MAN

Turner makes $153,823 a year in his job as Property Appraiser. This is a raise of $640 more a year from last year. He lives at 69 Bahama Circle in Davis Islands, which is assessed at $483,284, costing him approximately $10,000 in property taxes, currently unpaid. Interestingly, unlike most homes, Turner’s value has actually gone down the past two years. It was $528,719 in 2006 ($11,800 in property taxes, and $514,236 in 2007 ($10,500 in property taxes).
Turner’s mailing address is listed at 2635 W Prospect Road in Tampa. Registered to him in 2005, it is now registered to Donna Lois Marino, his wife. He is from Virginia and went to University of Virginia. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Turner is a member of Toastmaster’s International, a nonprofit whose goal is to help instill public speaking and leadership skills.

THE OFFICE

The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s office has a budget of just over $13 million, a slight increase from $12.9 million last year. It employs 147 people, a decrease from 153 last year. They use 47 cars, including 18 Ford Escapes, 27 Ford Focuses, a Ford Explorer (Rob Turner’s car), and a 2001 Chevy Blazer, the oldest of the cars, used by David Webb, Senior Appraisal Manager of the Agricultural Team. Most of the cars are relatively new, half of the Escapes being 2008. They are all plain white.
The office spent a little over $1000 over the summer of 2008 putting locking gas caps on the automobiles.
Turner’s senior staff includes his Chief Deputy Warren Weathers, his General Counsel Will Shepherd, and his Executive Secretary Merary Gomez. My initial request was handled by Carolyn FIllipone, Director of Human Resources. It was then passed off to Sarah Herms, an Accountant III, and then Rita Skutnik, an Accountant II.

Turner at Work

Mr. Turner incurred $675 in educational expenses last year. He attended a school for the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAOO) in Orlando in December of 2007, where he stayed at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center in Room 1048 for a cost of $99 a night. He also went to the Property Appraiser Association of Florida’s Mid-Winter Conference in Tallahassee in February of 2008. He stayed overnight at the Ramada Conference Center in Room 2257 for $79.95.
In addition to the educational trips he took, Turner also took several business trips in 2008. He attended the first Software Techniques Inc. conference in Orlando in March of 2008 (STI helped update the Property Appraiser Offices technology and bring them online shortly after Turner took office in 1997.) He stayed two nights at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in room 708 for $175, and paid $20 for valet parking each night. His lunch on March 27, 2008 was provided by the conference.
He went to a Department of Revenue Conference in Daytona Beach in May of 2008, staying overnight at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort in room 994 which has 2 queen beds and a fridge for $99, and paid $8 for parking. He next went to a DOR workshop on Amendment 1 (“Save our Homes” homestead exemption and portability) in Lake City in July of 2008, where he stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn in Room 323 for $84.
Turner’s total gas and food expenses totaled $723.51. He apparently only gets reimbursed for $38 in meal expenses per day. His hotel stays add up to $949.95, making his total travel expenses for 2008 equal $1673.46, except for one flight to Nevada.
Turner stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada for the IAAO’s annual conference. The airfare for this trip was $961. He paid $40 for taxi service, $500 to register for the conference, and stayed with Donna Turner for $105 a night.
Turner’s travel expenses do not seem excessive. He stays in what appears to be modest accommodations, although I noticed he almost always uses the maximum food per diem. Does he really spend $8 for two meals and $22 for the third?

THE ELECTION

Turner was challenged this election cycle by Democrat Ken Ayers. In all, he raised over $73,000 for his campaign, over $4,000 in “In-kind” contributions, and spent a little over $70,000. Naturally, he spent most of his money on advertising and mailing, although his “qualifying fee” to the Supervisor of Elections was $9000. Curiously, he sent out seven refunds for contributions over the limit in August of 2009.
His big donors early on were farmers. In March of 2007, Deedee Grooms and Carl Grooms of Fancy Farms in Plant City both sent him $500, and then another $500 on behalf of their business. Berry Patch Farms, Inc. donated $250 and Astin Farms, Inc. donated $500. Builders, Insurance, and Realtors made up the majority of his larger contributions, as well as his employees.
Turner defeated Ayers by over 43,000 votes, a nine point lead.

CONCLUSION

The people at the office were very pleasant. They provided me with all the information I asked for with no problem, in a timely manner, and Rita Skutnik allowed me to inspect the records and pick which information I wanted copies of.

The presentation by Steve Andrews was very good. Not only did he give a clear presentation of his stories, he had the actual footage to enhance the presentation, and he managed to link them to Public Records.

Andrews talked about several stories he worked on. He showed how based on tips, he was able to uncover cracks in a local reservoir, sinkholes along the Crosstown Expressway, questionable attendance practices by firefighters, and gross negligence in an assisted living home.

While the slant of the presentation was angled towards broadcast, Andrews had some very good pointers for all journalism students. While for most of the semester we’ve been hearing about how agencies will try to stall you or put you off when making a public records request. Andrews pointed out the opposite side of that coin, where an agency will happily inundate you with mountains of paperwork. It takes patience, and a clear eye, (and also perhaps someone with a little expertise in the field to translate the jargon), to find the relevant information, but the payoff can be big.

But, sometimes you encounter a force bigger and stronger. While Andrews managed to uncover rather incriminating evidence that firefighters were taking extended leaves of absence and still collecting paychecks (at taxpayers’ expense), he ran into obstacles when the Fire Chief wouldn’t take action against them. Or when the subject of another WFLA investigation about his gambiling debts committed suicide.

Investigative reporting is tough work. You need a good “nose” to decide what leads to pursue, and nothing is worse than putting a lot of time and effort into an investigation only to come up empty handed. But the work is ultimately rewarding, when you get to see the difference you make in the community.

Meet you further up the road,
Brentin.

The Human Relations Board is a volunteer organization that is operated by the Equal Opportunity Administrator. The Administrator for Hillsborough County is Gail Williams. They hear cases related to the Human Rights Ordinance. The mission statement of the Ordinance is to “prohibit discrimination based on race, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), national origin, age, religion, color, disability, and marital status in employment, public accommodations, procurement and contracting, and housing. Discrimination against families with children (familial status) is prohibited in housing.”

The Human Relations Board hears cases brought about by citizens of Hillsborough County who feel they’ve been discriminated against in one of the areas listed above. It is important to note that their jurisdiction only includes unincorporated areas of Hillsborough County, as well as Plant City. The Cities of Tampa and Temple Terrace have their own boards. Also, they cannot investigate another government body, so if a citizen feels discriminated against by the School Board or the Department of Transportation, they must file their grievances with that agency. Also, any club that requires membership is not considered a public area, and therefore exempt from the board.

Persons who feel discriminated against must file a written complaint to the board, who will then check to see if the complaint falls within their ordinance. If it is determined that they do, then they investigate to see if the complaint is valid. If it is determined that the complaint is indeed valid, then they work with both parties to resolve the dispute. They do not represent either party, and they are obligated to remain impartial.

When discussing cases, the Board must ask the public members to leave the meeting, to respect the privacy of the complainants. There were no cases at this particular meeting, so they moved on to discussion on possible updates to the ordinance, the first time they had done so since November 1, 2000. Most of it was simply clarifying legalese, and making sure the areas covered were in line with both state and federal legislation, and official changes had to be submitted by a subcommittee.

Board members serve three year terms, and three members discussed their leaving the board at the end of the year. The discussion turned to inviting new members to join the subcommittees, and then Gail Williams gave an impromptu overview of the history of the ordinance. Of particular note is the fact that sexual orientation was taken out, due mainly to former County Commissioner Ronda Storms. (Read: “County Commission Votes Against Gay Protection”)

Also of note was a caution to the new board members that even though they are volunteers, and not on the county’s payroll, they still must file financial disclosures. After the meeting, board member Raymond Reed talked a little bit more about the work that the board does.

Reed said that a good number of cases are people who are just disgruntled ex-employees who don’t want to hire a lawyer, and once the board looked into it, they discovered that the reason someone was terminated was due more to their performance issues than to an actual discrimination. But, he noted, “Every once in awhile you get to see justice done, and that’s a good feeling.” He encouraged me to check out a Board of County Commissioners or a School Board meeting if I wanted to see some real action, and also noted that coming out of school was a good time to get involved in public service. He discussed the Human Relations Board, or the Affordable Housing Board as good places to get started.

Meet You Further Up The Road,
Brentin.

Our penultimate field trip was a return to the Community Center to the Tax Collector’s office. While the Tax Collector himself, Doug Belden, came in and greeted us momentarily, our learning session was conducted by Preston Trigg, who, like J.D. Callaway, once worked for the Tampa Tribune.

One notable thing about Mr. Belden was that he prefers not to have a spokesperson for his office, but rather conducts interviews personally as much as possible, while Trigg and the media relations staff handled other press inquiries.

Being a former reporter really gave Trigg an advantage in his presentation to us. He started with a brief review on the definition of public records and the various types that were available. He also mentioned what the costs of copies were, but noted that as much as possible, the Tax Collector’s office tried not to charge for copies, believing that the taxpayers already put enough of their own money into the office. We also discussed exemptions. Auto tag and driver’s licenses are among the records the Tax Collector keeps that are exempt. One interesting fact I learned was how the death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. led to the exemption of autopsy photographs as a public record.

He then discussed some of the tricks of the trade. Working on both sides really helped him put it into perspective for us. For example, although it is not required to put a request in writing, it helps the agency know exactly what you are looking for, and also helps if you have a dispute with the agency over a request. He also said that inspecting a record and taking notes on it, instead of obtaining a copy may help reduce costs, which he reinforced Ms. Harper’s caution that we should get an estimate of all costs up front.

When it came to investigating an agency, he provided us very useful things to look for, so we don’t go blindly into our projects. Records like their budget, an organizational chart, gift disclosures, payroll records, travel records and auto stipends, al things that may help us “follow the money” and see if anything suspicious may turn up. Another useful request is for all the other 119 (public record) requests that have been made in the last year, to see what other people may have been looking at.

We then learned a little about what the tax collector’s office does, and how it works. You can pay your property tax directly (as you would when you renew your auto tag), or you can have it escrowed out of your mortgage payment, a more common option. Those who pay their taxes before November 1 get a discount, and those who pay after April 1 are late. We learned the Property Appraiser’s role in setting the value of the home, and the Board of County Commissioners and City Councils role in determining the amount of tax to be levied. We discussed the information that can be found on hillstax.org and how to link from there to the Property Apparaisers Website and from there to the Clerk of the Court.

We also discussed how to “follow the money” by looking at buildings that may be co-owned by politicians and cross-referencing those properties with Occupational licenses, to see if they have any business dealings worth looking into. Then we started to discuss how to search campaign contributions, but in my opinion these subjects could have been better covered the previous week by William March.

Between Mr. Trigg and Ms. Frank, I think we got a very good understand of both how local government works, and how to obtain the best information for researching these officials.

Meet you further up the road,
Brentin

William March’s speech on political reporting was not only informative, but he had solid evidence of the power of public records with the article he brought to the class. All the information he had was almost to much to absorb in one sitting. Tracking campaign contributions, politicians’ voting records, and people’s personal information that’s available for public record can get pretty deep and technical.

What amazed me the most was the rules regarding voter registration records. It is possible to see someone’s voter’s registration, including their party affiliation, but not to obtain a copy of it unless you purchase it as part of a campaign or a party. You are also able to see if the person cast a ballot, although of course you cannot see what they voted for.

Sites like AutoTrack, CQMoneyLine, and OpenSecrets are valuable ammo for investigative reporters. While I knew about campaign contribution limits, and the difference between a campaign commercial and a 527, I hadn’t considered the possibility that companies might offer “bonuses” to their employees and then coerce them to donate that money to a political campaign. Even with all the finance reform that has been enacted, it still seems like PAC’s and special interests dominate politics, and that most of the candidates for public office have their own fairly deep pockets to help get them started.

This is why I disagree with my classmate’s position on why campaign contributions shouldn’t be limited. While it would be transparent if one person or group donated large sums of money, it would seem to create a sort of economic divide. While large sums of money would be noticeable, it would still create a type of economic disparity between those could afford a $1,000 donation and a $5,000 donation, or a $10,000 donation.

The other important part of political reporting is presenting an unbiased view. Whether one is Democrat, Republican, or Independent, they need to be able to examine politicians and candidates with a critical and objective eye, so the readers get all the facts.

Meet you further up the road,
Brentin

Read “March On Politics”, William March’s blog

What is it?
The Hillsborough County Animal Services Advisory Board is comprised of appointees from the county commission, as well as representatives from local veternarians and non-profit agencies. They advise Animal Services on issues related to enforcement of animal-related statutes, overpopulation, vaccinations, etc.

The meeting started off fairly typical. There were motions to adopt the previous meetings minutes and to set the agenda. Tim Colton from the Kennel Club, Inc. of Brandon began by speaking about a Safety Fair at Columbus Elementary School where the topic was teaching children how to deal with approaching strange dogs, to minimize risk of injury. He also spoke of the Kennel Club’s new Basic Obedience Class, an inexpensive course to help curb what he cited as the number one issue with owners who surrender their pets.

Animal Services

Next, Dennis McCollough from Animal Services spoke. He said the ASPCA had just purchased a van for the department to use in patrolling the streets. The gift was accepted by the Hillsborough County Commission the previous week. The staff of Animal Services mostly operates on a volunteer program, minimzing the cost to taxpayers. McCollough had more good news, as he reported adoptions and transfers were up, and euthanasia was down. Also, every kennel now has a bed for the pets. He noted that the spay and neuter vouchers the department had been distributing was only at a 9.1 percent redemption rate, and that they were conducting surveys of citizens to see how they could boost that number, and intended to report on the issue at the next meeting. He mentioned that while the vouchers allowed owners to spay or neuter their pet for only ten dollars, many private practices also administered pain medication, which was not covered by the voucher.
See Pets currently available for adoption
Learn more about the Spay & Neuter Vouchers

Humane Society and Mission: Orange
Then things got tense. There was a mention of a free shot clinic being sponsored by the Humane Society. It is to be held on January 10 in the Sulfur Springs area of Tampa, an area referred to as being “economically depressed”. They are offering free vaccinations for rabies and distemper, free licenses, pet food, and the vouchers for spaying or neutering could be obtained there. And that’s when certain members of the board objected. Among the concerns raised were by the veternarians who seemed to suggest, without outright saying it, that this clinic was taking away potential business, and how were they going to determine who at the fair “needed” the assistance. (”Are you going to collect W-2’s?” was one comment). Other members of the board suggested that by offering free licensing, at least it got pets into the system so that Animal Services could keep a better eye on them.
Eventually, Ms. Holly O’Brien from the Humane Society ended the debate. The Humane Society was funding the project, with support from the ASPCA, the City of Tampa was waiving any legal fees, and they had not only the okay to go forward from the Council, but also from the Hillsborough County Commission. Talk turned to the Pet Safety and Protection Act, which would prevent the sale of pets for research, an issue most of the committee could agree on, before the meeting was adjourned.
Learn More About Mission: Orange
What is the Pet Safety and Protection Act?

After the meeting, I was able to speak to Dennis McCollough about the controversy surrounding the Mission: Orange shot clinic. He said that every day he makes his patrol he nearly fills up his van with strays. He doesn’t want to be known as a “dog-snatcher”, because most of the animals he picks up wind up euthanized. He estimated nearly 750,000 animals in Hillsborough County, or roughly three animals for every four people.
“Passions interfere with dialogue”, McCollough said. “What’s most important is to get these pets into our system.”

Meet you further up the road,
Brentin

The visit to the Clerk of The Court’s office may not have had the sense of…let’s say “adventure” that the visit to the Orient Road Jail did, but it was still very interesting, and most likely will be far more useful. As both the Comptroller and the Clerk of the Court, Ms. Pat Frank was a gracious and well-informed host.

Comptroller
The duties of the Comptroller are mostly to monitor the budget of the Board of County Commissioners. It verifies that the expenditures are authorized. Ms. Frank characterized the Comptroller as an independent body that serves as a watchdog. It also monitors “parked” (unspent) money, and where it’s invested. Ms. Frank discussed three considerations the Comptroller’s office makes when planning how to invest “parked” funds: Security, liquidity, and rate of return. A low return in a secure investment is more likely than a high return risky investment.
Ms. Frank also discussed how the county earns revenue by generating official records, and how the economy affects the government. Not only do homeowners lose the actual building, but they are also unable to pay for the property it is on, therefore a bailout/”rescue” would also help government.
Clerk
The Clerk of The Court is perhaps the most important office people know the least about. Some of their duties include: Keeping records of all court events, sending out jury summons, collecting child support payments, collecting court costs, and recently started processing passport applications, and processing marriages and divorces.
In part because of Ms. Frank’s efforts, a lot of what the Clerk does is online. Court Dockets can be found online. Traffic citations can be paid online. Referencing last week’s trip to the Jail, video courts can now be used for first appearance. They are moving to a system where one can get excused from their jury summons in advance. Electronic imaging is underway to preserve the documents that have been compiled over the past century and a half. Budgeting for this must get state legislature approval. There are savings for this, however. E-records can help reduce the county’s $86,000 postage budget.
However, sometimes technology progresses faster than the County’s ability to implement it. The Clerk is trying to get running a system that allows a court clerk to enter information into the system as it’s happening. Currently, three people do this job. One records the events of the court, one transcribes it, and one files it.

A Complex Budget
The Comptroller is allowed to return unused surplus to the Board of County Commissioners. (The “parking” of it in secure investments). However, the Clerk’s Office revenue is controlled by the state, so excess from counties such as Hillsborough is often redistributed into other counties that may not have excess or even deficits. Ms. Frank wondered whether the distribution was fair, and said careful monitoring was needed to make sure counties were not “fudging” their numbers to get this money.

Marriage
One of the more common functions of the Clerk of the Court is marriages. This is where you would go to get your marriage license, they have an area where they conduct actual marriage ceremonies upon request, and it is also where couples go to obtain divorces. A marriage license costs $93.50, but if couples take an approved “Pre-Marital Preparation” course, they can get that reduced to $60. The cost just to file for divorce is $408.

Overall, the visit was packed full of useful information. It was almost too much to take in one visit. It will be interesting to dive in and explore all the various types of public records the Clerk’s Office can turn up.

Meet you further up the road,
Brentin

Read Pat Frank’s Blog, “Frank Talk”
Learn more about Pre-Marital Prep Courses

PHOTO GALLERY

Our class trip to the Orient Road Jail was completely fascinating. We were greeted by Major Robert Lucas, who was our tour guide for this trip. After going over a bit of the ground rules, our trip was underway…

Booking
We started off in the booking area. This is where the incarcerated are received from the streets and processed into the system. First they go to the Intake station, where all their personal information is documented. This then becomes available on the county website, for those doing public records research. The next phase is Property. All their personal valuables are inventoried for the time being. They can either obtain them upon their eventual release from the jail, or they can sign a release for someone else to get them. Then they are taken to Fingerprinting. It was fascinating to see that the fingerprints are taken digitally. Then, instead of the old t.v./movie style of taking a pic holding a sign, with two profile pictures, they simply do a digital scan of the face. Major Lucas noted that having these images in their database (the photos are also available when doing an inmate records search), makes traditional lineups unnecessary. After they visit the Medical station, they then are taken to the body scanner. Since federal law now prohibits strip searches, the body scanners effectively determine any orifices that may be hiding metal. After that, if it is determined they aren’t going to bond out, they are sent to the resident areas.
See a map of the Booking area
Learn more about the Ranger Boss II Body Scanner

Living Pods

Actually, the residences are not long hallways of iron-bar cells as you might expect from television and the movies. They are more like little dorms. Stress the “little”. Each inmate effectively lives in a room not much larger than a closet, with either a single bed or a bunk bed, and then a desk. They are only confined to their rooms for certain times of the day, if they behave well. Major Lucas seemed to stress the behavioral modification aspect of the jail. If they misbehave, they lose privileges. Extreme cases get them put in Lockdown.
Lockdown is very similar to solitary confinement. An inmate is shut in a narrow room, only allowed to leave to shower, or one hour of indoor and one hour of outdoor recreation. Unless they lose the recreation privileges, then they can only shower. We then moved on to the final stop of the tour.

Master Control

Our tour ended at Master Control. From there an operator can see all the cameras throughout the jail. Major Lucas told us how even though we saw only a small part of the jail, that it was fairly symmetrical, and that the whole jail was pretty much the same from then on. I was rather impressed with the tour, particularly how technologically advanced they were. I would have like to see more, particularly the video courtroom, and the adult education center.

Meet you further up the road,
Brentin
PHOTO GALLERY

Our visit to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was full of useful information. J.D. Callaway, the SO’s Public Information Officer (and USF graduate), gave an informed lecture on the process that most reporters go through to obtain information on criminal activity and arrests. From a News Release, to an Arrest Report, to Incident Reports and Criminal Report Affidavits (CRA), there is a wealth of information for reporters to sort through. Callaway noted that a common mistake reporters make is not obtaining the CRA, which often contains the officer’s notes, evidence lists, and lots of other useful nuggets of info.

Another topic Callaway addressed was the immediacy of reporting driven by the surge of internet news. He noted that the SO had to be cautious with what was said over the radio, as reporter’s listening to the scanners may write stories that are incomplete, or worse, inaccurate. What is said over a scanner, he cautioned, may be completely reverse of the reality of a situation. That leads the SO and dispatcher’s to carefully monitor what they are saying on the scanners, but I would add that the reporters have the additional responsibility to do some fact-checking before posting something on the web where millions of readers could potentially access it. Another overlooked source of info was search warrants, which are public record. Half of the warrants, Callaway says, don’t result in an arrest.

Then we took a brief tour, leading past the records department to the “War Room”. On the way Callaway told some facts about the county and the SO, such as it’s the 9th largest county in the nation, with approximately 920 square miles. The SO used to be the central location, but that much of the operations are now decentralized.

Also, he noted booking videos are public records, and the deluge of requests to see the booking of American Idol contestant Jessica Sierra.

The “War Room” is a small conference room with telephones and computers that serves multiple functions. “Roll Call” and briefing meetings happen there twice a day, and it’s used as a classroom, for training new phone agents for 911 and dispatch calls. But it also can be used to coordinate in case of an emergency, such as a hurricane.

The 911 center employs about 120-130 agents total, with 22-25 on a shift at a time. The center receives about a million calls a year, with about 60,000 of those actually hitting the streets. Landline phones go to certain stations based on the first three numbers (not the area code). Cellphone calls generally depend on the user’s proximity to a tower. These calls can be tracked to a general area, but technology does not yet help them pinpoint exact locations.

We also learned how incoming calls have lists of who’s responsible for policing, fire, and ambulance services in the area the call came from, so the call can be forwarded if necessary (although it was noted the 911 operator stays on the line). Also, arial views of the call area can be shown to determine entrance/exit points, in the event of a hostage situation, etc.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of Reverse 911, a program in which the phone agents are able to target an area and call for emergency notifications. Reasons for such a service may include neighborhood emergency situations such as a hazardous chemical or gas leak, a natural disaster prompting evacuations, missing person alerts, or criminal notifications such as sexual predators moving to the neighborhood, or whether a fugitive is in the area.

The trip was very interesting, albeit a bit short. I would’ve like to seen the records room. I am also anticipating the visits to the jail and the courthouse, to see what the differences in records between the three agencies are.

Meet You Further Up The Road,
Brentin

PHOTO GALLERY