The San Luis Obispo County grand jury found that it could be more cost-effective for the police and fire agencies across several cities to create a joint dispatch service — a recommendation that was rejected this week by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, the county Board of Supervisors and the police and fire agencies for each city.
In the original November 2020 report titled “Joint Agency Dispatch: Better Together?,” the grand jury said that there are multiple examples of successful and affordable joint emergency dispatch services throughout the county. The original report came after the 2019-20 grand jury completed five investigative reports, which required responses from relevant agencies and looked at law enforcement and detention facilities, which is required each year, according to the report. The report cited two key examples. First, that Cal Fire provides 911 services to unincorporated areas of the county as well as in Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach and Morro Bay. Second, that the county Sheriff’s Office provides 911 service and law enforcement dispatch for Arroyo Grande and Morro Bay. The grand jury reviewed information about emergency dispatch operations throughout the county “for potential financial, operational, and service efficiencies that may be achieved by combining dispatch operations,” according to the original report.
These materials included the 2018-19 budgets for dispatch operations, personnel requirements and call volumes for all seven cities in the county and the county Sheriff’s Office and Cal Fire dispatch centers, along with interviews with relevant personnel, according to the original report. The grand jury issued four key recommendations for the cities of Atascadero, Grover Beach, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo, Cal Fire, the county Sheriff’s Office and the county Board of Supervisors in the original report. On Dec. 16, 2021, the 2019-20 grand jury released a continuity report to follow up on the outcome of the original November 2020 report. “The grand jury found that Cal Fire and the county sheriff have provided equal or superior dispatch service for less cost to several agencies in our county,” it wrote in the continuity report. “The real benefit for taxpayers and residents countywide is the financial and operational efficiencies of a joint agency dispatch service.” In the original report, the grand jury found that the cities of Atascadero, Grover Beach, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo — all of which operate their own public safety answering service — could benefit from connecting their dispatch operation with Cal Fire and the county.
Some of those benefits include possible cost savings as well as logistical benefits, according to the original report. The grand jury recommended that each city seek a request for proposal from Cal Fire and the county Sheriff’s Office. In the December 2021 continuity report, each of the four cities declined to implement this recommendation for different reasons. For example, Atascadero said in its response that a joint dispatch service would result in salary disparities between city personnel and personnel contracted through the county, as well as cause it to relinquish city control over the quality, method and cost of dispatch services. Grover Beach said the city is already working with Pismo Beach on developing a regional communications center, and Paso Robles said the joint dispatch proposal is not demonstrably better than the current system, nor will it lead to mutual benefit, according to the continuity report. The second recommendation was that the SLO County Sheriff’s Office and Cal Fire modify their plans for dispatch to the seven cities in the county into a “viable alternative for the co-dispatch center,” according to the original report. The Sheriff’s Office rejected this recommendation, noting that each city has the option to contract services from the sheriff and that the sheriff’s facility doesn’t have the resources to accommodate emergency services for every city if they requested it. In its third recommendation, the grand jury called on the county Board of Supervisors to require the Sheriff’s Office to provide long-term pricing for both joint and non-joint dispatch service, which the Sheriff’s Office and supervisors both rejected, according to the continuity report. The fourth and final recommendation from the grand jury was that the supervisors “include the reallocation of space in the (Emergency Operations Center) building for expanded dispatch operations in their current negotiations with PG&E regarding the closing of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in 2025,” according to the continuity report. The supervisors said they will not be implementing this recommendation because the county negotiated a lease extension through 2029 with PG&E, which owns the emergency operations center building at 1525 Kansas Ave. in San Luis Obispo, according to the continuity report. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2030, ownership of the emergency operations center building will be transferred from PG&E to the county. The county is also expanding a co-located dispatch center to allow for expansion over the next 20 years, according to the 2021 report.
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