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B12AZOS COUNTY < < , 1 -~BRYAN, TEXAS ~ ,
NOTICE OF MEETING
AND AGENDA
BRAZOS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT
WORKSHOP SESSION
THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF 131RA_7_-OS COUNTY WILL MEET IN A
WORKSHOP SESSION ON TUESDAY 12 AUGUST 2008 AT 6c00 P_M_ IN ASSEMBLY ROOM 3 OF THE BRAZOS CENTER, 3232 BRIARCREST DRIVE, BRYAN, TEXAS_
1 _ Call to Order
2_ Discussion regarding 9-1-1 dispatching and the Brazos Cotlnty Emergency
Colxir>.ztulications District (9-1-1) contract with Brazos Cottrlty_
3 _ Adj o-
Z1~ie Brazos Center is wheelchair accessible. Handicap parking spaces are available. Any request for sign interpretive services must be made two working days before the meeting. To make arrangements, please call (979) 361-4102_
Offca of the County Judge • 200 South Texas Ave. Suite 332 • Bryan, Texas 77803 Fax- (979) 36lI 503
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COMMISSIONERS' COURT
WORKSHOP SESSION
August 12th, 2007
The Commissioners' Court of Brazos County, Texas met
in a Workshop Session on Tuesday the 12th of August, 2008 at
6:00 p.m. in the Assembly Room 3 of the Brazos Center, 3232
Briarcrest Drive, Bryan, Texas, with the following members
of the Court present:
Randy Sims, County Judge, Presiding;
Lloyd Wassermann, Commissioner of Precinct 1;
Duane Peters, Commissioner of Precinct 2;
Kenny Mallard, Commissioner of Precinct 3;
Carey Cauley, Commissioner of Precinct 4;
Karen McQueen, County Clerk
Attached is a list of the citizens and officials in
attendance.
Attached is a transcript of the meeting.
Vol 0 1 Page 92
2 of 38
BRAZOS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT
9-1-1 Dispatch
August 12th, 2008
Tape begins mid-sentence.
Sims: ...for coming to this meeting. We had a great, joyous rain here today and
I'm very happy for that. I had to get out in it a couple of times but I was
so happy that it was coming down, it didn't bother me one bit. I will ask
all of you to cut your cell phones off or put them on mute, at least, while
we're having this meeting so we don't interrupt any speakers and citizens
that would like to speak to us.
The Commissioners' Court of Brazos County will meet in a Workshop
Session on Tuesday the 12th of August, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. in assembly
room 3 of the Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest Drive, Bryan, Texas. I will
call this workshop meeting into session, to order. The item that we will be
discussion tonight is; discussion regarding 9-1-1 dispatching and the
Brazos County Emergency Communications District (9-1-1) contract
with Brazos County. With that I will ask Commissioner Wassermann if
he would lead off, please.
Wassermann: When I took office January 1St of 2005, 1 had a lot of people in my
precinct come to me and start expressing concerns about our dispatching
service for our Constables in Brazos County. It kind of peaked my
interest and as time rolled on some other instances or situations happened
that definitely caught my attention and I want to go over some of these
now with you. Just bear with me because I'm going to say a lot
tonight... probably too much. But there are some things that I want to
elaborate on or discuss or at least bring to your attention.
On September the 7th on a construction site on State Highway 6 South,
one of the construction people working on the crew ruptured a gas line.
What happened after that is that I was told that Emily Staples who is
Precinct 1 or South Brazos County Department Fire Chief had requested
to 911 that she needed help and she wanted the Constables dispatched
down there for that. I'm going to read you exactly what the
conversations I asked her and invited her into my office. I said, "I want
to know first hand what really happened, Emily ...what really took place.
I want to know." And she told me and then I went and got the dispatch
tape from the transcript and this is exactly from that. This happened at
6:18 p.m.,
Vol 111 Page 93
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Line 278:
Dispatch: 10-4, stand by, I have a Bryan call. South Brazos
County volunteers, need additional man power for a leak, Class
087-5340, south Brazos County volunteers need more additional
man power for a leak Class 087.
Line 300:
Staples: Will you please notify the Constables that we would
appreciate some assistance down here.
Line 303:
Dispatch: That's clear.
Line 305:
Staples: Sheriff s Office advised that they've got their own crew
helping us right now but we need some more help.
As far as I can ascertain, that was never dispatched. This could have been
a very, very serious situation. It was already. It could have gotten a lot
worse if we had had to evacuate down in that area, if they would have
had to stop and reroute traffic and everything else. That kind of activity
should not happen.
When she came and talked to me then that made me recall an earlier
incident that happened and I want to read this one to you because I don't
want to miss anything in this. This happened in 2006, September the 151H,
2006 at approximately 2:45 p.m.;
A Brazos County Deputy Constable working traffic enforcement
on State Highway 6 was told by an unidentified passer-by
motorist that there was a major accident just south of his location.
As the Constable traveled in the direction of the accident, he
monitored the Brazos County Volunteer Fire Department radio
frequency informing volunteers of a major accident on State
Highway 6 involving numerous vehicles including some 18-
wheelers and that some vehicles were reported being on fire with
victims trapped inside.
This Deputy Constable arrived at the scene in about three minute
response time. With the help of other individuals including two
out of town law enforcement officers and using his own on-board
fire extinguisher they were able to hold back the fire and extract
one survivor from this burning vehicle. Unfortunately, he too
perished several days later.
Vol hi Page 84
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Five people lost their lives in this accident and we can all recall that. To
my knowledge, today, there was no 911 dispatch to the Brazos County
Constables relative to this accident. Had he been dispatched immediately,
would this individual be alive today?
Now that is a question I pose. I hope as we go through this tonight ...I've
done a lot of thinking and a lot of research on this ...I hope as we go
through this tonight that some of the questions that I will have as a
Commissioner on this Court, might be answered. They are questions like;
who has input into the wording of the contract with 911, who determines
which groups will be dispatched within Brazos County by 911, and why
do changes take place during different years as to which law enforcement
groups will be dispatched by 911?
On April the 171h... and everything I talk about, I will have documentation
to support that, I'm not just making up stuff. On April the 18th, 2007 the
Director of 911 sent a letter to the 911 Board of Directors which included
a review of the fiscal year 2008 budget proposal which supported the
funding adjustments that were approved in fiscal 2007 budgetary
discussions. An attachment outlining fiscal year 2008 proposal budget in
detail states this: "This figure represents income from the District's
contracts to provide dispatch services for the City of Bryan Police and
Fire Departments as well as the Brazos County Sheriff's Office,
Constables, and volunteer fire departments." Now that letter was sent on
April the 18th, 2007. After reading that, it makes me compose and ask the
following question:
If this letter was sent on April the 18th, 2007 with the attachment
for the fiscal year 2008 proposed budget details line 3, dispatch
contract states; "To provide dispatch services for the City of
Bryan Police and Fire department as well as the Brazos County
Sheriff s Office, Constables, and volunteer fire departments."
During the budget hearings with Commissioners' Court on July
the 13th, 2007 as far as I can determine, there was never any
mention made of dropping the Constables from the dispatch
service as mentioned in line 3 of the fiscal year for 2008 proposed
budget detail. It just happened.
My question then ...and I'm not posing this to anybody, really ...why then
when the current contract signed on October the 9th, 2007 between Brazos
County and the Brazos County Emergency Communications District, the
Brazos County Constables were not excluded in 911 dispatch service? It
said all along that they were going to be. And then from that time to
October 9th, 2007 it just was dropped.
Vol I I Page g~
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In addressing that, I want to say that Brazos County has increased our
funding to 911 since October Ist, 2005 to September 30, 2008 in the
amount of $397,384.00. Yet we dropped dispatching authority to Brazos
County Constables during that period of time.
I'm not through. Sorry. Here are some facts that I have found that I think
are interesting in going through and trying to get a detailed study of this;
the Texas Health and Safety Code, Sub-chapter D, Emergency
Communication Districts, Section 717.301, the short title of which is
cited as "The Emergency Telephone Number Act", which went into
effect on September the Ist, 1989, the Section 772.302, The
Purpose ...I'm going to read this; "It is the purpose of this subchapter to
establish the number 911 as the primary emergency telephone number for
use by certain local governments in this State and to encourage units of
local government and combinations of those units to develop and
improve emergency communications, procedures, and facilities in a
manner that will make possible the quick response to any person calling
the telephone number 911 seeking police, fire, medical, rescue, and other
emergency services. To this purpose the Legislature finds that, number
one; it is in the public interest to shorten the time required for a citizen to
request and receive emergency aid. Two; provision of a single, primary,
three digit emergency number through which emergency services and be
quickly and efficiently obtained would provide a significant contribution
to law enforcement and other public safety efforts by making it less
difficult to notify public safety personnel quickly." You go a little further
and read and it will say that, "...County government is a unit of the State
of Texas and the structure and duties of County government are set forth
in the Texas Constitution." County responsibilities mandated by law
include ten different mandates of which one is to provide for public
safety.
Let me just read you some quotes that I ran across as I was trying to
research this. The first ones are an article from the Jasper Newsboy on
April 4th, 2007... some dispatchers were being recognized for their
service. "Telecommunicators are the first person that most people talk to
when their loved ones have died, when they have been a victim of an
assault, their child has run away, their car has been stolen, they have
come home and found their residence has been broken into, they're house
is on fire or they have been involved in a wreck. Furthermore, most do
not realize that dispatchers are the literal life line for law enforcement
officers serving in the community. And in many cases the only voice one
can hear or communicate with during a dangerous situation."
Vol 0 1 Page
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Here are quotes from a Harris County Constable of Precinct 5 who is
frequently asked questions by his department; "Is a Deputy Constable the
same as a police officer?" "Yes. Article 2.12 of the Texas Code of
Criminal Procedures state; who are peace officers? Number two on the
list after Sheriff s Deputy is a Constable Deputy. Article 2.13 of the
Texas Code of Criminal Procedures entitled "Peace Officers, Duties and
Powers" state; "It is the duty of every peace officer to preserve the peace
within his jurisdiction. To affect this purpose, he should use all lawful
means. He shall, in every case, where he is authorized by the provisions
of this court interfere without warrant to prevent or suppress crime." This
means that Constables and Deputy Constables receive their legal
authority from the same statutes as other law enforcement officers and
have the same powers.
A summary of this; is when an elected peace office...in this case a
Precinct Constable... takes the oath or is sworn into office, he or she takes
an oath to solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully execute the
duties of the office of Constable of the State of Texas and will to the best
of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the laws of the United States
and of this State. I'm going to keep talking for a while unless one of you
Commissioners want to shut me up.
Brazos County Constable expenditures for the fiscal year 2007...can't be
2008 because it's not over yet... for salary and benefits, operating
expenditures, and capital expenditures was a combined grand total of
$1,389,257.08. In looking at that and considering what I've learned by
doing this study, I really do not know if we are allowing the Constables
of Brazos County to fulfill the obligations to the citizens of Brazos
County. We definitely are getting diminished returns for our investment.
I also did a Dispatch survey, a services survey ...I contacted counties
around us. Most of them replied and in that survey I asked, "Who do you
dispatch for?" And here are the replies; Burleson, Robertson, Grimes,
Walker, Falls, Washington, and Jasper Counties all of those counties
dispatch for the Sheriff 100%, Constables 100%, Volunteer Fire
Department 100%, and Emergency Medical Responders.
Also in researching, in looking through our personnel in Brazos County
we have fifteen Constables with total years of experience between them
at 223. 223 years of experience with five of them actually Master Peace
Officers and it goes on down.
Why am I saying all of this? Because I just don't believe that in looking
at public safety ...we're not doing something right. Everything I say
Vol [ I l Page g ?
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tonight. That's what it's all about. It's just about general public safety.
Can I go on?
Sims: Please do. You have the floor.
Wassermann: All right. Thank you. In researching this, going back as far as 2004 or
further... really I went back to 1994...and finding some things; here is a
letter dated June 14th, 2004...this person is no longer here. It was Greg
Petri who was the Director of the Brazos County Emergency
Communications District at that time. This letter is addressed to Judge
Sims and it says, "Per your request, here is our proposed 2005 fiscal year
budget. As you remember from earlier discussions, this budget is out of
balance intentionally. At the request of Commissioner Mallard,
Commissioner Peters, and the Constable, this budget includes bringing
the Constables into our dispatch service or operations.
Now I said earlier that I looked at 1994 through 2008 and in looking at
the contracts that Brazos County has with the Brazos County Emergency
Communications District from 1994 to 2008 it reads in the contract and
when you look at it, it says dispatching authority to. For the years 1994
through 2000, it read, "Emergency communication authority for Brazos
County." From 2000 to 2003 it read; "Brazos County Sheriff s
Department and Volunteer Fire Departments." For 2004 and 2005 it said;
"Brazos County Sheriffs Department, Volunteer Fire Departments, and
Constables." For 2006 through 2008, it read; "Brazos County Sheriffs
Department, Volunteer Fire Departments, and will monitor and record
radio transmission for the Constables."
And Betsy Godwin, I have a question here for you and you can try to
answer it or not. Do whatever you want to with it. But in previous
meetings I've had with you, you keep referring that you're operating the
Brazos County Emergency Communications District 911 within it's
charter document. My question is; where in the charter document does it
make reference to the fact that Brazos County Constables can not be
dispatched or made aware of the emergency situations happening in
Brazos County? The charter document we are operating under now was
ratified and signed by all parties on February 22°d, 1990. Would you
answer that for me if you can?
Sims: We'll give her time to answer when it's her time to speak.
Wassermann: Ok.
Godwin: Yes sir.
Vol I I I Page 99
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Wassermann: All right. I have in my possession a copy of a letter dated June 1St, 2005
that was sent by the four elected Constables, signed by each one to
Kathryn Koppenhaver of Brazos County 911 Dispatch Manager
requesting that; "...the 911 dispatchers notify all Constables by radio of
any of the following situations; all wrecks (major or minor), burglaries in
progress, burglar alarms being set off, pursuits by any agency by foot or
vehicle, any agency calling for assistance or any other emergency
happening in Brazos County."
I also have a letter sent by Betsy Godwin dated July 5th, 2006 to all four
of the Brazos County Constables. This letter was a reply from her to the
Constables after they had had a meeting with her to request that the
respective Constables be notified of all emergency calls in their precincts.
I have a copy of that letter and I'll read from it.
"Dear Constables:
It was great to meet with you last week; moreover, I want to thank you
for bringing your concerns to my attention. I just wanted to take a minute
to recap what we discussed and perhaps facilitate a resolution to your
concerns.
You primary issue is the inability to monitor emergency traffic in Brazos
County since the inception of the 800 radio system. To resolve this issue
you request our communications specialist notify the respective
Constables of all emergency calls in their precincts. As I stated in our
meeting, officer safety is a priority for our center and as I agreed I
contacted Chief Deputy Jim Mann to discuss your concerns. I learned that
the ability to monitor emergency radio traffic via the Brazos County
Sheriffs Office Primary talk group #1 and Joint Operations Talk Group
#13 was already in place.
I find in our Charter Document that the Brazos County Sheriff provides
law enforcement service for the County. Additionally, the District has
agreed to be the emergency dispatching authority for the County and the
Constables. Therefore, I would like to suggest that for the sake of clarity
and propriety that I obtain from your representative a memorandum,
signed by both the Sheriff and the Constables regarding dual notifications
of emergency traffic. Once in place, dispatch procedures will be
documented and our communication staff will be trained on methods to
facilitate this request.
Here is another question you can try to answer later: Why, after there was
a request by two Commissioners and the Constables to be brought into
the dispatching operations along with a budget request for $361,038.00
which was a 36% change or increase over fiscal year 2004 of
Vol t h 1 Page 99
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$95,679.00... why did the Constables have to come begging to Brazos
County Emergency Communications District and 911 for dispatching
services? First by letter dated June 1St, 2005 that was sent to Kathryn
Koppenhaver, Brazos County 911 Dispatch manager and signed by all
four elected Constables and again when they met with you prior to your
letter of response dated July 5th? Both times they're request was just
asking to be notified of all emergency situations or calls in the precincts.
Wassermann: All right. I have in my possession a copy of a letter dated June 1St, 2005
Here are some of what I consider interesting facts ...during budget
hearing with the Commissioners' Court going over your budget request
for fiscal year 2008 and, again, to you Betsy, you made the following
statement while comparing the cost of College Station; "To operate their
911 system compared to Brazos County 911, they... College
Station ...were paying $1,320,014. and it took us...Brazos
County ...$1,608,647.00 to dispatch for the County, the City, the
Volunteer Fire Departments, with the Constables." It says, "...with the
Constables...". That's the point I'm trying to make. During your 2007,
2008 budget hearings, you replied to a question posed by Commissioners
Mallard was...and this is on line number 148 from the transcript. Your
statement was; "The Constables' radio traffic we monitor; we don't
actually dispatch them for calls to service."
I guess with all of this talking I'm doing, my real concern is that there is a
little bit of contradiction in those statements. And I'll get to that now. In
your proposed fiscal year 2009 budget detail it reads; Line 3, Dispatch
contracts: "This figure represents income from the districts contracts to
provide dispatch services for the City of Bryan Police and Fire
Departments as well as the Brazos County Sheriffs Office, Volunteer
Fire Departments, and includes monitoring and recording radio traffic for
Brazos County Constables. Revenue for fiscal year 2009 and beyond has
increased due to a comprehensive revision of our budget structure;
moreover, implementing our four year plan to enhance service requires an
increase in funds.
You go to line 17 in that same budget detail and it says, "Brazos County
Emergency Dispatchers following our four year plan ...we are in the
process of separating the Sheriffs Office and the Constable radio traffic.
Based on radio statistics, the Sheriff s Office will have it's own dedicated
position and the Constables and Volunteer Fire Departments will share a
position. These eight communications specialist will operate both radio
positions and will be funded 100% by revenue generated by Brazos
County Contract for Dispatch Services.
Vol hi Page 90
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Looking at that, here is another question I pose; does a structure like this
mean that we're entering another fiscal year with dispatching services for
Constables in Brazos County to only include monitoring and recording
radio traffic for Brazos County Constables? And the biggest question of
all is how do we go about getting this changed? How do we go about
getting this changed? And I think that's the purpose of this whole
workshop tonight.
During our budget hearings with you for fiscal year 2009, you were asked
the question of what was Brazos County's Emergency Communications
District pay schedule compared to College Station's pay scale. You're
reply was that College Station's starting pay was $13.19 per hour starting
pay, increasing to $14.20 after a training period. Brazos County
Communications District's pay was $13.07 starting pay and after training
it would go up 4%. From the figures, it looks like Brazos County
Emergency Communications District's pay is pretty competitive. Why is
it then that we're always told that we're short of dispatchers or those that
are in training?
I just want to throw this little tidbit in because we don't dispatch our
Constables even if they are the nearest people ...this little tidbit I want to
throw in here and then I've got maybe one more thing to say and I'll yield
the floor. Just for interest, the response time from the Brazos County
Sheriffs Administration Building to the furtherest point in south Brazos
County, Precinct 1 is 34 miles and takes 41 minutes to travel driving the
posted speed limit. The distance from that point to the nearest Brazos
County Constable's residence is 11 miles with a travel time of 13.5
minutes.
I am going to rest my case but when it's all over, I want to read a closing
remark that I have. I appreciate your interest in what I have to say. I hope
you heard what I said and I'll pass the floor.
Sims: Thank you Mr. Wassermann. Commissioners, would any of yall like to
make any comments?
Mallard: I had one comment; as far as monitor but did not dispatch ...I think the
Constables in that reference... it's been a while so my mind is not perfect
but when it said "Dispatch"... in other words, they're out operating on
their own so they kind of self go out as far as operations. So I think that
may answer that ...that they are not dispatched to calls for their service.
That doesn't include the emergency... that is their day to day paper
service and all of that. They are not dispatched on those calls. That
doesn't answer the question on the emergency basis why they'd be
dispatched.
Vol i l l Page q I
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On the shortness of dispatchers, I don't know other than I know that that
is a pretty high turnover type job similar to other professions such as in
the jail ...there's a high turnover there as well. That doesn't completely
answer it but, anyway, that's two of the areas that I saw that's in there.
Sims: Ok. Commissioners?
Peters: Well, to me, it really boils down to public safety. I don't think that there
is anybody in this room that would say that they care what uniform an
officer is wearing if they're in need... if there is somebody burglarizing
their house or whatever the emergency situation is...I don't think that
there's anybody that is going to argue about what uniform that a law
enforcement person is wearing. In emergency situations, I believe that we
should be alerting all law enforcement of emergency situations out there
situations out there so that the closest one can be the first one to get there.
To me, it's unacceptable to expect our citizens to wait fifteen, thirty
minutes, whatever, when there may be a law enforcement officer right
around the corner. And I know it happened recently. There was a little
girl that believed that there was a burglary in her house, she was in the
closet called 911 and told them that there was a burglar in the house. It
just so happened that there was a Constable that overheard it on one of
the channels and was right there and called Dispatch and asked what the
location was and it turned out he was within two houses of where it was
at. Went to the house and it happened to be the dad, he came home early.
But it was going to be a good while before ...and I'm not faulting the
Sheriffs office for not getting there because there is a lot of territory out
there to cover. But what I'm saying is we have resources... the County
pays for law enforcement in both areas ...we have resources out there and
we should utilize them. If it's an emergency situation, we should be
making the best use of what law enforcement we have out there.
Sims: Ok. Mr. Cauley?
Cauley: Well the only thing from what I've heard ...and this has been an argument
ever since I've been a Commissioner ...some twelve years about who
gets the call. It shouldn't matter who gets the call. Everybody should get
the call and whoever is closest can get there, I think. And I don't see how
we got all tangled up with certain people getting certain calls. I know this
Commissioners' Court has never said that. Again, old history teaches that
the constabulary was the first to be established in Texas. So I think
that ...well, I don't want to disparage anybody but I think all agencies
should be notified and whoever is closest, fine. And sometimes you may
have two or three people go to the same place. So what? It's better than
nobody going or somebody getting there an hour late. I've had a lot of
Vol t i t Page q A
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complaints myself relative to people coming out. I hope that in the future
this situation can be rectified and everybody notified and everybody
being on the same page.
Sims: Ok.
Wassermann: Can I make my closing remarks now?
Sims: Now? Please do.
Wassermann: It's going to sound like an echo from what Commissioner Peters said but
I wrote this long ago so it's not an echo. As one Commissioner elected to
this Commissioners' Court taking office on January 1St, 2005 until today,
August the 12th, 2008, 1 feel like the citizens of Brazos County are not
getting what is expected for their safety, protection, and well being. It is
my opinion that we are not allowing our law enforcement personnel
throughout Brazos County to serve in our best interest. As long as our
elected Constables and their Deputies Constables totaling fifteen with 223
years of law enforcement experience are not dispatched equally by 911
dispatching services when any emergency is going on in Brazos County
thus allowing the nearest law enforcement personnel or individual to go
in route and assist in whatever the situation or need might be. Until this
takes place, I will always be very uncomfortable with our protocol or
directives as it exist now. I will continue to pursue what I consider is right
and fair for the citizens of Brazos County with their best interest at heart.
Citizens when they need assistance or the help of a law enforcement
officer in any emergency situation will never notice when that help
arrives as to what color the vehicle they were driving, what type of badge
they were wearing or the patch or their shirt sleeve. They just want help.
Hopefully, everyone here tonight recognizes that there was no intent in
any question or statement that I may have made to judge anyone's
integrity, personality, job performance, or ability. Everything I said or
mentioned was in the interest of public safety. Thank you.
Sims: Ok. Thank you Commissioner. I think all of us have to realize and
remember that we are all public servants that serve the people of Brazos
County ...be it the Sheriffs Department, the Constables, the
Commissioners' Court, the PD department, or whatever it may be. We are
public servants. I think we have to do the job that we have been hired to
do and to be able to do it to the best of our ability. I would like to say that
I think there does need to be some changes made but I will reserve that
until we get through the people that would like to speak at this meeting.
The first of which is Betsy Godwin. If you would, you may address the
Vol W Page 92).
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questions that Commissioner Wassermann has and make any statement
that you would like to make.
Godwin: Well, I'm not a speed writer but I tried to write down as fast as I could
the questions that were asked of me. Several of the questions that were
asked were already addressed in the past when a complaint came up. We
investigated and we answered the questions as they came up. One of them
was the spill on Highway 6 South that was brought to my attention by
one of my Board members. We had a thorough investigation which
included pulling the Dictaphone recoding logs and looking at both the
CAD slip for the fire department and for the volunteer fire department.
We pulled all of our data together and we did, in fact, we had
deficiencies. We had deficiencies because we had six dispatchers in the
dispatch center and we were overwhelmed with calls. We were
overwhelmed with radio traffic, we were overwhelmed with 911 calls.
We did not intentionally not dispatch out. If you would look at the entire
investigation, it showed call after call and when the dispatcher who was
going to make the telephone call picked up the phone to make the call, he
answered a 911 call.
As I have spoken in the past, I wish that we always had the proper
staffing in the dispatch office for whatever emergency comes up but,
unfortunately, nobody can predict when an emergency comes up and we
do the best we can with what we have.
As far as the other incident that was brought ...the fire on Highway 6 that
was never brought to my attention so I can't speak honestly about it
because I have not had a chance to investigate any of it.
I do, my district does, my whole entire staff follows policies and
protocols and we have a contract. We have a contract with the County.
We have a contract with the City. We take these responsibilities very
seriously and we coordinate with the entities on a quarterly basis and
sometimes even earlier. When I came here back in 2006 we sat down and
we made long range plans because we saw that the County is growing,
the calls for service are growing, the population is growing, and we...the
Public Safety Advisory Committee, my entire administration, and my
communication staff... had input on where we were going and how we
were going to get there.
Why are we short handed? There a variety of reason why we're short
handed. Yes, College Station does pay more money, they do have better
benefits but they are not our only competitor. It is a very high stress job.
It is very complicated and they work very hard in the dispatch office. I
have people that have been there for a very long time and I have people
Vol L 1 1 Page 0
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that just started. In all communication centers, the rollover, the turnover
rate is very high. We do the best we can with the benefits and every year I
go to my Board and we discuss how we can do a better job in giving good
benefits to retain and recruit people that we have.
As I said, I have policies that I have to abide by. I have polices with the
Constables' offices. I have policies with the Sheriffs office and I'm
going to let the folks that are in charge of those polices speak so I'm not
repeating what I have to say. Everything that we do in the
communication office is based on prior discussion, prior training, and
prior policies. Any time a policy is changed it is discussed between either
a head Deputy Chief or Assistant Chief. The policies are reviewed
annually and we try to go by the policies as best as we can. Any time
there is a complaint or concern, we look at policy to see if we need to
change policy and if we need to review anything.
Why did the contract change in 2006? As you stated earlier, the
Constables came to my office and they wanted to be notified 24 hours a
day, seven days a week via pager on all kinds of calls. They informed me
that they did not have radio contact to hear what was going on in the
County. At that time I said, "I need to investigate this. I need to find out
if, in fact, you do have radio contact and if you don't, how we can make
that happen. I need to meet with Chief Mann and radio personnel to find
out how we can rectify that." 1, in fact, did meet with Deputy Mann at the
time and he assured me that there were means set in place for the
Constables to hear the radio traffic.
As I said before, I have a Board I have to answer to. I took measure to
investigate what we had, what services we were providing, and the
concerns that came up. We had a Board meeting and in that Board
meeting the persons that had input had a chance to speak. We had a
discussion and the Board made decision on which way I was directed to
go.
So that is why the wording got changed. It does not say that we do not
provide dispatch services for the Constables. We, in fact, do provide
dispatch services to the Constables. Recording and monitoring radio
traffic is a dispatch service.
The question was why did the price of the contract increase? As the years
go by, more things were added to the contract. The PSAP Committee had
requested we give more service and provide another radio console which
means when you provide another radio console that's the radio, the
equipment, telephone, and the personnel to actually run that equipment.
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That costs money. That was detailed out in that budget what it was going
to cost.
So that being said, I hope I've answered all of your questions. I do
believe, though, that public safety personnel that are in this room will be
able to answer specifically the other questions that have come up. If that
is not answered and there are further question for me, I will be more than
glad to address them at that time.
Sims: Thank you very much. We appreciate that.
Godwin: Thank you.
Sims: The next person that has signed up to speak is James H. Taylor Jr.
Taylor: I'm going to decline my offer to speak. The Commissioner said
everything I wanted to say.
Sims: Ok. Sheriff Chris Kirk.
Kirk: Could I be moved to the bottom of that list?
Sims: Sure.
Kirk: Thank you.
Sims: Terry Smith.
Smith: Same request.
Kirk: Judge, we didn't know if we would be asked questions ...we signed up.
Sims: Ok. Tyrone Morrow.
Male: He's on his way, he's coming from the City.
Sims: Ok. Natasha Sayers. Yes ma'am. Come up to the front, please.
Sayers: I was carefully listening to everything that had to be said... and you have
to excuse me, I'm a little nervous. One of the things that caught my
attention was the repeated notions that the dispatchers maybe weren't
trained because of the high turn over rate or maybe they were short
staffed. I, personally, put myself through college as a dispatcher, I did it
for four years and that is not a good enough excuse. It is the job of the
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911 supervisors or whatnot to make sure they are trained, to make sure
they are staffed. So I don't think it should lay on their shoulders.
Just like they are the first person that the panicked caller gets a hold of,
that is also the person that these Deputies on the street and Constables on
the street are looking for...that's their life line as well.
I know personally of a situation where my husband had been home from
work for over an hour and a Dispatcher finally called his cell phone to
check on him, to check his status. They never checked on him a single
time he was out. An hour after being home, they finally decided to see
where he's at. They can't get a hold of him on the radio so they call his
cell phone.
So the dispatchers are definitely lacking in training. I don't know who's
responsibility that it but I believe it needs to be addressed. I think it needs
to be addressed so that these people depending on 911 for their life line
are getting people to their house as soon as possible and the officers that
are out on the street are counting on that life are helped when they need to
be helped as well.
That was the main concern I see in all of this. But it goes both ways... it's
the people that are calling in and the officers that are counting on these
people. That's it, guys.
Sims: Ok. Thank you. Ok. Tommy Lyons.
Lyons: Thank you Court for having this tonight. I would like to express my
concern for the safety of the citizens which all of the Commissioners
have already expressed. I think that whenever something happens in the
rural areas or in the city the person who is in trouble doesn't care if it's a
Brazos County Sheriff, College Station policeman, Bryan policeman,
Brazos County Constable. The person that needs help, wants help as soon
as possible. And when you are twenty miles or ten miles ...as you
said ...from the Courthouse the quick response is very helpful.
Now it seems that there has been some misunderstanding and from what 1
gather it will be corrected because it seems as if all the Commissioners
are on the same page. And I hope that with your work on this and the
work of the 911 Dispatch... there may be some new technology or
something that might be able to upgrade your system if we're having too
many people for you to address ...if there is something we could do along
that.
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But in the rural area, we have fire people that risk their lives and they
don't care. I mean if College Station policeman or Bryan ...if you see
somebody hurting, if you're on your way to Austin ...the Sheriff or any
Constable sees somebody that's in Hearne or Caldwell... stop and help
that person even though you may not have the authority. I think as law
abiding citizens and as the duties that you have to your County and to the
people that help support you. I think that would be very beneficial and I
know the people that are hurt would appreciate it very much.
Once again, I appreciate the concern. I think this has come to a head and I
will be looking forward to seeing the results of this meeting.
Sims: Thank you Mr. Lyons.
Lyons: Thank you.
Sims: Mary L. Sustaita...is that correct?
Sustaita: He just said everything I was going to say.
Sims: Ok. Thank you. Ron Mayworm.
Mayworm: Thank you, Judge Sims. Commissioners, I'm Ron Mayworm, I'm the
Chairman of the Board of Mangers of the 911 District. I'd like to note
that we have a quorum of the Board of Mangers of the 911 District in
attendance this evening, so this is an official public meeting. The Board
members in addition to myself in attendance are, you, Judge Sims,
Commissioner Mallard, Chief Alley, and I believe Chief Morrow is on
his way. So we will have the voting quorum of the Board in attendance
and listening carefully to what is being discussed this evening.
Commissioners Wassermann, you indicated that these requests were sent
back in 2005, 2006 by the Constables asking for service and, indeed, they
were. We noted those and noted that what was being requested was in
conflict with the procedures that we had been given by the Sheriff's
Office. And in an effort to resolve that conflict as best we could, the
Board held a meeting which Betsy alluded to earlier on August 18th of
'06 in which quite a few people attended. Constables Thompson and
Clark were there and expressed their concerns which were very similar to
what you said this evening. And also Sheriff Kirk explained to the group
that he had the primary duty and responsibility for law enforcement calls
in the County. And at that meeting Constables Thompson and Clark
agreed with the Sheriff's assessment. The Sheriff also stated that because
of that duty and responsibility he had the right to determine how these
calls were handled once they were received in the 911 center. And this
was the basis for the instructions we were given.
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In recognition of this discussion at that time in August of 2006 and upon
the advice of the District's outside counsel, Patricia Meronoff who was at
the meeting, the wording of the Dispatch agreement that you questioned
with the County was changed to clarify the services that the District
provides to the different County departments. This change was
unanimously approved by at that time by the Board members in
attendance at that meeting including Judge Sims and was apparently
accepted by the Commissioners' Court when that contract was signed by
the Commissioners. The District itself is neutral in regards to this
situation as to who has responsibility or who ought to be called for these
calls. This is an issue that has been going on for a number of years
between the Sheriffs and the Constables. We wish it would get settled.
Thank you very much.
Sims: Thank you. Buddy Zemanek.
Zemanek: Good evening. I just have a couple of things that I need to say and I've
used 911 several times out on Chick Lane. Chick Lane ,and that part of
the country has grown very well with the Expo Center and it's getting
bigger. We have more problems, I would say, right now with traffic on
those small roads than we ever had. You've got these new subdivisions
out there that nobody respects these roads we have out there. They think
they're highways. So a lot of times you try to control the things yourself
but people don't pay attention to you. You're just a person. So the other
day we had guys out there riding a 4-wheeler on Chick Lane and a dirt
bike. Now, I think someone else reported these boys to, 911, so the
Sheriffs Department, the Constables came out there and I stopped him
and told him about it. He asked where these boys lived and I said, "They
live down the road in that mobile home park and they've been running
them down that road all the time ...90 miles per hour. And they could care
less if they run over you, really." So he said, "Ok. I'll take care of it." My
question is...and it evidently got stopped because I haven't seen these
boys again. But, to me, it looks like you would get some feedback from
somebody to say, "Ok." And maybe that's a little thing from me. Say,
"Ok, we've got it taken care of now. If you see them again ...they were
notified and they'll know the results if you see them again."
The same thing with your speed limits. You have these new subdivisions
back there off of Villa Maria which is back over there in that land. And
they're not supposed to come through, they're supposed to go out on
Villa Maria but they don't. These construction workers and stuff right
now...the speed limit on that road is 40 miles an hour, Mr. Cauley?
Cauley: Yeah.
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Zemanek: You know it. And we've got some curves on there. My pipe fence has
been run through three times. I fixed. I've even had a sign up there and
somebody tore it down ...to watch that curve. And one of these days
somebody is going to get killed. Which when they go through that fence
and get hurt bad, I believe I'm just gonna let `em lay there. You know?
Because I've told them over and over; gravel road, you just don't speed
and run. But we don't have anybody out there to monitor that road to
kinda control these people and they drive... and if you tell them
something, they're gonna drive that much faster. I run out there the other
day to the end of my driveway and tried to stop this boy in a red truck, he
was going at least 60 and he would have run over me if I had went out
there. He could care less. And when he went to the curve out there, I
heard he missed that curve and kinda spun around. But he comes down it
every day doing the same thing. I don't know. I don't know if we've
got...and I know we hadn't got enough law enforcement people to check
everything but to me some of these County roads need to be monitored a
little bit more because they're dangerous. I've got grandkids and if one of
them gets killed out there, I'm going to be very upset because, I ain't
raising them to be no hoodlums or nothing else. I been out there on Chick
Lane for all my life. And you know, Mr. Sims, yall had that road there
and so...I'm not one to create a problem but I do think we need to look at
that one because it is a high run road right now. Thank you.
Sims: Thank you. Appreciate it. Chief Morrow? Would like to speak sir?
Morrow: Good evening gentlemen. I'd like the opportunity and thank you for
allowing me to speak on behalf of the City of Bryan. I know the issue has
come up regarding the 911 system and the availability of having the
closest available city police office if it's in the City of Bryan, the Sheriff
if it's in the Brazos County, City of College Station if it's in the City of
College Station, UPD if it represents the college or any of the elected
Constables. But what I have to caution us to be very clear and aware of is
policies and procedures and protocols. And I have experienced in the past
when you have an agency and you have multiple agencies responding to
the same event, you have the potential for what we call in law
enforcement... which we need to garnish against ...is called deconflection.
Meaning we need to know what the training levels are, we need to know
what the policies and procedures are and we need to know what the
capabilities are of the individuals that are going to be responding to that.
Recognizing that when I first got here to the City of Bryan, I initiated an
activity where we try to get all of the players, all law enforcement
officials that represent the Brazos Valley into a room to begin to have
discussion about prioritizations and who is going to respond where and
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under what protocols. Based on that meeting, all the Constables, the
Chiefs of Police and the Sheriff all agreed on an interlocal agreement
which set out jurisdictions. Recognizing that we all have jurisdictions
within our respective entities, if you don't have protocols about who's
going to respond in what order and what policies and procedures you are
going to follow... in an event to be helpful, we have the great potential to
create even more mass chaos casualties and it may cost somebody their
life.
So my read is this; we have already set down as a group ...all of the
Constables from this County have signed on to that interlocal agreement
identifying the jurisdictions, the police chiefs have signed that interlocal
agreement, UPD is in the process of working thorough their legal system
to get that interlocal agreement signed and I would say let the law
enforcement individuals that have the expertise make the decisions about
how we will respond to issue within our community. We are best trained,
we are best equipped and we know what the issues are. And we have
begun the dialog to make sure that all of the players are equally
represented within the Valley. And all I ask that you take into due
consideration is that you allow us to continue to have that dialog so that
we can make sure that we obtain the mission that the Bryan Police
Department has. Which is to make Bryan the safest city in the great State
of Texas. And with the help of the Constables, the Sheriff, the City of
College Station, the Chief from UPD...I think we can do that. Thank you.
Sims: Thank you, Chief. Shawn Sayers.
Sayers: First of I'd like to start by thanking the Court for allowing me to speak
here in this forum. I am a Deputy for Constable Clark and I have been in
that capacity for four years. Before that I was a Sheriffs Deputy. Before
that I was City police officer and before that I was a 911 dispatcher. But
long before that, I was a vested member of this community ...I was raised
here. I know most of the people in this room. And I think what this really
boils down to is like Commissioners Wassermann and Peters said; when a
helping hand is in need, does it matter if it comes from a postman, a
passerby, a policeman? Does it matter what badge or uniform? When
help is dire and somebody is in need of it...it's heaven sent. And when
communications break down it's not somebody that you just read about in
the newspaper or see on the Channel 3 News ...it hits close to home. Your
son. Your daughter. Your mother. Your aunt. Your neighbor.
Well the people in my community that I serve are my neighbors most of
all. I don't care where the helping hand comes from for them. Be it me,
one of these gentlemen, a neighbor on the other side. There are a lot more
issues here than just relaying the information. With the 800 trunk system
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in this County, the rural parts, the far points way down in the
South ...Allen Farm ...way out in the northeast portions and I'm sure
down in the Mumford bottom ...I don't get over that way very often but
I'm sure every man in a uniform that drives a patrol car that says Brazos
County on it will attest that those radios don't always work. They'll give
you a dead zone.
And because I am a vested member of the community and I know so
many people, the majority of the information that I get is via the
telephone. Everybody that I know in my community has my cell phone
number. And they call me. And they say, "Shawn, do you know what's
going on here?" "No, I don't." And sometimes that's because I'm not
listening to the right channel on the radio. Sometimes I do overhear it and
I have been able to intervene and stop crimes in progress and help people
when they're in need. But sometimes that information came to me from
the telephone because I was in a rural area and it didn't work.
For one instances there was an auto accident in a location that I had been
in three minutes prior. But I turned and went the other way. And one of
the vehicles that was involved in that accident was someone that I knew.
A man named Peter Grupa from Navasota and he calls me on the phone
and says, "Where are you at?" "I'm way down south here." "Well, there's
an accident up here, you need to come and help. It's bad." Well this
occurred approximately a half of mile north of the 159 and 2154
interchange. Well there is a tower right there. I can see the tower that the
radios work on. I've heard that there is a Millican channel but I don't
have it. I'm not privileged to it. So as I get out of the car, I can see the
tower but the hand held radio that I'm issue and that I carry doesn't work.
So here I am trying to render first aid to an injured person that is bleeding
from the head... somewhat delirious... and ascertain the situation so I can
convey to our first responders like Ms. Staples and Mr. Barker what the
situation is. And I can hear the dispatcher calling me, "503, what's going
on? What's going on?" But I can't reply.
It's frustrating when you're trying to ascertain that and then you have to
try to get back to the car to relay the information for the incoming units.
Those calls are dispatched and they do go out on the Sheriffs primary
channel but if there is Constables traffic or traffic on any other channel
that you're trying to monitor, you may not always get that information.
So if they were to put it out on a broad scale like that, it would definitely
enhance public safety, it would enhance officer safety. I know many
instances in my career I've been face down in the ditch and was
wondering if I was going to get out alive. I've had people stop on the side
of the road and help me. It doesn't matter where it comes from. It's help.
Vol I I I Page 1 D),
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And it's help when it counts. So if we could just broaden this out it may
save a life like your daughter, your mother, your brother, your sister, my
neighbor. And it's happened. It's happened here in certain instances. And
I would like to do everything in my power just as sure as you gentlemen
are and want to, to prevent that. Because I am a vested member of this
community; my father, my mother, my cousins, my daughters, my niece,
my wife, my friends. I don't' want to see that happen to them.
So I throw myself on the mercy of this court and I say, hey, now is the
time to let's put together and make it work. Because we are public
servants. And I think that is the key word there. It's humble servitude. I
do what I do because I enjoy helping people ...not because I want my
name in the paper or anything along those lines. It's not about the glory.
It's about the people in my community. And I don't mind when they call
me at 3:00 o'clock in the morning. It happens. That's what I do. And I
love these people. And I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to
speak here today. And I hope this meeting and this forum makes a
difference. That's all I have to say.
Sims: Thank you. Could I get a response from Terry Smith?
Kirk: (inaudible) to me, Judge.
Sims: Ok. All right. How about James Taylor?
Taylor: I declined, sir.
Sims: Ok. Sheriff Kirk, you're up.
Kirk: All right. Thank you Judge, Commissioners, and folks. I am actually glad
we're doing this tonight because there's been a lot of
miscommunications. There's been a lot of misunderstanding. But the
bottom line is more folks that we serve don't know the difference
between a Sheriff and a Constables or a police officer. They don't have a
clue. And we heard from many of them tonight and everybody that
applauded feels the same way I would assume ...that they really don't
care. They just want help when they need it. And I fully understand that.
I would say at this point that there are some issues that are valid that have
been discussed here tonight. And I think that we've already put in place
as you heard from Chief Morrow some steps to resolve that.
I need to probably go back and talk a little bit about the history of how
we got here because it's been mentioned. Prior to the 800 MHz radio
system, we worked off of the same high band frequency... the Constables
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and the Sheriff both. And it was a mess. There was a lot of activity on
both sides and we were always stepping on each other, keying up mikes,
when one of the others had.
So the actual attainment of the radio talk groups through the 800
MHz...through the graciousness of the City of Bryan and our contracts
with them, were a God send for everybody. Those talk groups are
proprietary. The Sheriff has his group, the Constables have their group,
Bryan PD, all the law enforcement agencies and emergency response now
have their own talk groups. And I'll have to be the one to stand here and
admit to you that when I got the Sheriffs office talk groups, I got pretty
hard headed about it. I didn't want to share them with anybody. Because
we had been sharing for a long time and it was nice to have our own
frequency where we didn't get stepped on and it was just something we
worked off of.
Duane and the Judge and some other folks came to see me about that and
I relented. I saw that, in fact, there was a public safety issue there by not
being able to hear what was going on on the Sheriff s channel. And so we
met with law enforcement agencies across the board because this was an
issue that we were all facing; College Station PD, Bryan PD, the Sheriff s
Office, UPD, all that have 800 MHz channels. We were worked out that
we were going to share our priority channels and we were going to share
our joint operations channel. Two out of the thirteen channels that I have
are now shared with anybody that works in law enforcement in this
community. So everyone that has the capability to scan 800 MHz hears
what goes on in the Sheriff s office.
The contract with 911 and 911 services is nothing more than a service
provided to law enforcement. Betsy Godwin and Ron Mayworm have
already described their relationship and they're neutral in this. They're
doing nothing more than trying to follow their contract and the charter
that was set in place. The charter does actually say that the Sheriff will be
responsible for law enforcement services out in the County. Now that
actually goes back to the fact that the Sheriff is a constitution office as the
Constable. But Article 2.17 makes the Sheriff the conservator of the
peace of the County. So, basically, while Chief Marrow is the Chief of
Police for the incorporated City of Bryan and Chief Ikner is the Chief of
Police for the incorporate City of College Station, I then, am the Chief of
law enforcement for the County of Brazos. So then the issue becomes one
of who has primary jurisdiction and who is responsible for responding to
the calls for service that come into 911. And the fact remains that those
that have primary jurisdiction which is the Chiefs of Police in Bryan and
College Station and the Sheriff in Brazos County have that responsibility.
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It's an awesome responsibility. It's something that I take very seriously.
I've been your sheriff now for almost 12 years. And I recognize what an
awesome responsibility it is. It's not that I have a choice in the matter ...it
is my duty. Set out in Article 2.17 in the Code of Criminal Procedures.
And we have to put deputies on the street 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
and 365 days a year to respond to those calls of service. And we do the
best we can with the resources we have.
I hear that the public doesn't really understand the difference between
one officer to the next ...they just need the help. And I understand that ...I
truly do. But I have to also add my word of caution as Chief Marrow did
in that we can't be just responding to the call without some sort of plan. It
has to be a coordinated response. It has to be one that is consistent. It has
to be one that has accountability. In other words, one agency. One agency
with organizational philosophies and policies and procedures and
protocols and know what the call history of an area that might be calling.
Or have criminal intelligence that an officer can share amongst their own
organization so that they understand what is happening. And then,
ultimately, one agency head to be held accountable for that duty.
Now in the case of emergency response, in the case of a situation where
you want all hands to respond ...that you want everybody to come that
can possibly come help ...and there are those situations. Two things are
very important to that; number one, that we all be communicating and
number two, that there be a plan in place.
After September 11th our world changed at every level. Especially in law
enforcement. And there were some protocols that were set in place
nationally and every law enforcement officer and law enforcement
agency has to apply these standards. They're called, The National
Incident Management System. Incident command that is under this which
is called NIMS and we're all trained in it dictates that there be a single
agency with jurisdiction for command and unified response for support
for minor and major incidences. So, in other words, one agency has to
have that responsibility under NIMS. And so if you have another agency
that wants to help and you need their help, it has to be a planned and
coordinated response to be effective. And it has to be planned and
coordinated to be efficient.
And so we have to apply those standards at whatever we decide to do. We
have to know that when Chief Marrow has a situation and he needs the
help of the Sheriff or the Constables that he can call on us. We have to
know that whoever is responding defers to the person or agency that is
primary jurisdiction for that response to plan the response and respond
appropriately.
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And so, therein lies the issue. And you heard Chief Marrow say that
we've already agreed ...the group of us...I've signed that as well as the
Constables and the Chiefs and I think the last person to sign is you,
Judge, through the permission to the Commissioners' Court that will
actually lay out who has primary jurisdiction and who has secondary
jurisdiction. And then it becomes a matter of the Chiefs, the Sheriff, and
the Constables to sit down and work out the protocols on how we're
going to do that. In layman's terms that means that if, in fact, there is a
Deputy or Constable or a Deputy Sheriff that is closer to a situation they
can respond but the agency that has primary jurisdiction should have the
courtesy of being contacted by that officer and having that officer say,
"I'm available to help. How do you want me to help?" And then you have
a planned response at that point and we don't all just show up willy-nilly
and have a situation that actually may be more dangerous than it was
prior to the call.
And so that is the caution that we heard from Chief Marrow and that's
the caution that I'm having is that we need to make sure that we have
those protocols in place. And if it means amending the contract or
figuring out a way that we can augment getting the word out, then I'm on
board with that. I've never stood in the way of that. I just want to be able
to do the duty of the Sheriff and I want to be able to carry out my role in
emergency response and calls for service. And I'll take any help I can get
as long as it's coordinated through the office. Thank you.
Sims: Sheriff, thank you very much. I think the Sheriff made a lot of sense
because I am not law enforcement but I do know that a lot of times the
Sheriff gets the call and he goes out and then one of the Constables hears
about it...and I know the Constables get on the radio and they say, "Hey,
where can I help? Can I direct traffic?", if it's an accident on the road.
And I think that makes a lot of sense. I'm not saying that if my wife
decides to call 911...you're absolutely right, she doesn't care what badge
they're wearing... she needs some help. But I know what you're saying
and it does make a lot of sense. You don't want 20 bosses out there trying
to direct a crime scene. Somebody is going to have to give way just a
little bit and listen to whatever agency is in charge and say, "Hey, let me
help or just tell me what you want me to do." And I think that makes a
whole heck of a lot of sense.
I would like to ask, Sheriff, if you don't mind, I would like to ask where
is the MOU which is the one that is being signed and passed around to the
different law enforcement officers? I have not seen it yet. MOU is a
Memorandum of Understanding, so I was waiting on it.
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Morrow: I misspoke a little earlier ...the Interlocal agreement is currently with the
College Station legal department being reviewed. Every other Constables,
every other Chief, and Sheriff has signed off on that agreement and it's
just working it's way through College Station.
Sims: I was just wondering where it was. I keep hearing it's here, it's there, and
it never shows up and I wanted to get it before the Commissioners' Court
and get it signed off on and let's start trying to make this work better.
Marrow: Right. And I think it's an issue of bureaucracy... working through all the
stovepipes.
Sims: I understand that.
Marrow. The other issue is this Interlocal is just the first step in getting everybody
at the table and getting honest discussions. The area in which I come
from Washington D. C., we had to consistently rely on those Interlocal
agreements. Because working in D. C., you've got every alphabet soup
law enforcement agency there and all of them want to show up at the big
event.
Sims: Including the White House.
Marrow: Including the White House. And we have to have a coordinated plan in
order to facilitate that as the Sheriff expressed. And I think we're moving
in that direction and it's just a matter of time.
Sims: Yeah. Well, I look forward to seeing that so that we can look at it and
read it and I've looked at it before and it looks like it's a good document
and I think it would be beneficial to law enforcement in Brazos County
for a long time to come.
Marrow: Yes sir. I do.
Sims: But we just have to make sure everybody knows what is being played
out, out there.
Marrow: Yes.
Sims: And when you're on the radio, you can't see anything. There's nothing
you can observe with your eyes. Consequently, we have to depend on
everyone in law enforcement to articulate to the others, "Hey, I need help.
Hey, I've got a guy that just headed out 2154 and he's a burglary suspect
and here's the car, here's the license number.", and maybe somebody that
is coming towards the scene ...there he is.
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Marrow: Exactly.
Sims: Make a u-turn and stop him. But I appreciate that. I look forward to
getting this so we can handle it.
Cauley: Judge, I think that there is a fundamental question that still remains in my
mind ...and I'm just a little country boy...but what happens with all of
this protocol when nobody shows up? And all of the agencies haven't
been alerted to what the situation is? I think that's what a lot of the people
are saying. Protocol is fine but sometimes the Constables is called and he
doesn't show up. Do you wait according to the paper to give somebody
help ...to dispatch somebody else? What happens when the Chief, when
the police can't respond? And I've been... maybe a little learning is
dangerous but I was in the citizens police academy for the City of Bryan
and there was times ...this was a long time ago, I was in the inaugural
class ...there were times when you only had four people patrolling the
whole City of Bryan. And if somebody ...I remember one time we rode,
somebody ran over a gas line ...there was somebody running, stripping,
there was a drug bust and that left one person. Now if my wife or
daughter call or children calls and this one guy is hid someplace else,
what happens to my family because of protocol?
Marrow: I don't want to speak for Ms. Godwin but I will say this; the Dispatch
Center is set up on prioritization. It is prioritization based on life and limb
situations all the way down to just mere property crimes or thefts. And
it's their responsibility that as those calls come in to prioritize them and
figure out what is a priority one call where there is life or death imminent
and then it's their responsibility to coordinate with whoever is on the
street as a street supervisor... particularly for the City of Bryan ...to figure
out where are our patrol officers are? And if there is somebody that is on
a lesser priority call ...say they're taking a theft report ...and there is a life
or death emergency some place other in the City then it is their role to
pull that officer off that theft report and send them where they need to go.
Cauley: That's the kind of thing, Chief, that a lot of the complaints from the
citizenry has come about. What they're saying is that they understand
there has to be this memorandum, there has to be the protocols and all of
that but if it's their family then that doesn't really matter to them. All they
want is some help.
Marrow: Yes.
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Cauley: And so that's what has been conveyed to me. That it would, I guess,
somehow feed into calling another agency and don't just try to keep it for
yourself.
Marrow: If it's a life or death emergency, we already have those plans in place. If
something happens in Bryan and if I don't have enough officers in place,
it's by protocol that it goes to the Sheriff, it goes to College Station, it
goes to UPD and say, "I am in a crisis and I need help." And everybody
is going to be flooding that way...to include the Constables. All I am
saying is coming from a large metropolitan area and seeing how chaotic
and problematic this issue can get, you need to have a coordinated
planned response and protocol in place.
Cauley: I understand that.
Marrow: And once we're all at the same table and we understand how the
Constables operate, how the Sheriff s operates, how Bryan P.D. operates,
how College Station operates and how UPD operates then we can all
know what to expect. If you don't know what to expect going into a fight
then you can have some major, major issues. And that's all I'm trying to
say is what I'm trying to do since I got here with the assistance of the
Constables that are represented here, the Sheriff, Chief Ikner, Chief
Snyder, is to lets all sit down in a room, let's put our egos aside, and let's
come up with a plan. And we're there. We've got it. We're just missing
two signatures and we'll have the plan in place and then we can actually
sit down and begin to plan all this stuff out. We're moving in that
direction. All I'm saying is please let the experts figure the protocols or
how we're going to do that.
Cauley: I'm not trying to be funny, but I've been on the Court twelve years and it
hasn't been figured out yet.
Marrow: And I don't mean to be funny either, sir, but I haven't been here twelve
years ...I've been here one year and I've already got all of the players to
sign that document so I think we're moving in the right direction.
Cauley: All right.
Peters: Chief, I think the difference that I see is that coming from a metropolitan
area like Washington D.C. is you probably have lots of law enforcement
available so that you may have had a problem with a whole bunch
converging on one area. The problem I see out in the County is it may
take fifteen or twenty minute for one guy to show up. And that's the big
difference that I see and that's the reason that I see that we need to be
able to notify both the Sheriffs office and Constables when we have an
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emergency situation. I don't think there's been a problem with having too
many people show up. The problem is there's just not enough... there's
nobody there for a good while.
Marrow: And I recognize that sir and I understand that. But either being in a large
metropolitan area or a rural area ...it doesn't matter. If you have one
person and that one person isn't on the same page and they don't work
from the same play book, you have the potential for problems. And all
I'm saying is lets get everybody on the same page, kind of working out of
the same play book so we understand the issues of where we need to go.
Peters: I understand. But what I want to see happen is I want to see that in those
situations that we recognize as emergency situations that we get the law
enforcement there. And I understand that the Sheriffs office may be
twenty or thirty miles away and it make take a good while and there is
plenty of instances that have already occurred that that is exactly what
happened. And the Constables may have been right there in the area and
didn't get notified, didn't know anything about it. I want that changed.
Marrow: And it's my strong belief, sir, that we're moving in that direction. We're
having dialog where there has not been dialog before. So all I'm asking is
give us the opportunity to continue and finish that dialog so we can make
Brazos Valley the safest valley in the great State of Texas. Thank you sir.
Sims: Thank you. Yes sir, Sheriff?
Kirk: May I interject? I think that in my statement I mentioned that when we
have an emergency call out for an all-hands response, I think I said that
there were two important things; one was communications and the other
was a plan. What we're working on is the plan. What we're here tonight
to discuss is the communications. And we still haven't really come up
with a solution to that. And I don't think we should leave here until we
have a little more frank discussion about that. And I'm not going to put
anybody on the spot because 911 is neutral in this and they are. They
have a charter they're following and they have a contract. So I know a lot
about what capabilities they have and there are some limitations on how
to do this. And we have to have that discussion to make it all come
together. I think, Ron...Ron, I hate to put you on the spot but you
understand that system as much as anybody else in this room. How do
you do what you've heard here tonight? Or can you do what... and then to
be fair, we have to ask Betsy ...do you have the resources to do this? I'm
probably going to step way over my head into this as far as my
knowledge but there is a talk group that is the Constables and there is a
talk group that's the Sheriffs and proprietary I allow them to hear the
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dispatch. And we're going to assume from what we hear tonight that that
is not sufficient at this point. So how do you fix that?
Peters: Let me just say one thing before Ron speaks. To me you have the talk
groups. You have your talk group, and you have the Constables talk
group and we, I think, are in the process of setting up separate dispatchers
to dispatch for Constables and volunteer fire departments. And then we're
going to have the dispatch that dispatches for the Sheriff. To me it looks
like it's fairly simple that that dispatcher dispatches the Constables over
the Constables radio, calls and sends that notification over their radio at
the same time they send it over to the Sheriff's Department. It looks like a
simple act to me. Maybe I'm being too simple on the thing. I'm not very
smart but I...
Mayworm: No sir. Actually, it may be simpler with the additional dispatchers. As
Sheriff Kirk indicated, the amount of workload is something that, I
believe, Betsy is going to be analyzing to see exactly how that can fit in.
There are some technical abilities for the dispatchers to talk on multiple
talk groups simultaneously. I can't say for sure that that would work
because even though it's a new radio system, we have some of the old
Sheriffs VHF channels patched in. Without checking, I can't say off the
top of my head if that would preclude us from being able to do some of
the multiple select functions that are available. I can tell you that I think
that you're aware that there is this Brazos Valley Area Wide
Communication system BVWAC that we are headed towards. It is a wide
areas system that will cover our County better than the coverage that we
have now. It will also include Washington County and it will be a more
technically coordinated system so that we'll be able to mix and match
different talk groups perhaps a little easier than we can right now.
Peters: And I think we are headed towards having a second set of dispatchers
there. I know we have funded it. So I would think that there should be a
way to solve this problem. And that's what I want to do. That's what I'm
after. I want to get this problem solved.
Kirk: I'll just finish by saying that we're all guilty about pointing fingers about
who's the problem. A lot of fingers have been pointed at me. I've pointed
my finger at folks. But that isn't fixing this. We have a chance to fix it.
And if it takes more money, we can help Betsy in some way find the
resources she needs ...well, let's do it. You know, it's time.
Sims: I agree with you.
Cauley: I think that we need to ask Betsy right now. Is money the reason why
you're not doing this?
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31 of 38
Godwin: As I said before, the reason I'm not doing anything that was discussed is
because I have a contract and I have policies and procedures and I have to
echo ...just one second ...I have to echo what Chief Marrow says; this
interlocal agreement is the very first step in getting everybody on the
same page and discussing the way to solve these issues. Once everybody
decides how they want things done and what policies and procedures we
are to go by then we look at the problem, we analyze it, we talk to our
public safety advisory committee and then we discuss how we can get
things done. Over the past two and a half years, not only has the Sheriff's
office added more resources to the mix with the SURGE team and the
CIT team, so has Bryan PD. We have been able in our communication
center been able to adjust to these additions. We have met and we have
added policy. We have trained. And I agree with that young lady back
there; this issue is not a Dispatch issue. It's not a training issue with
Dispatch. These dispatchers are trained very extensively.
Female: You misunderstood me.
Cauley: Ma'am, I think I heard you say... and I don't want to disparage
anybody...
Godwin: Ok.
Cauley: ...but what I think I heard you say was that if the Sheriff doesn't approve
it, it won't get done.
Female: I thought I heard it too.
Female: Yes.
Godwin: I said that I have a contract...
Cauley: With the Sheriff.
Godwin: With the County.
Cauley: The County.
Godwin: With the County.
Cauley: And the Sheriff is the Chief law enforcement officer?
Godwin: Correct. Correct.
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Cauley: Let me ask you one other thing.
Godwin: Yes sir.
Cauley: Who told you not to call the Constables?
Godwin: Nobody told me not to call the Constables. In our polices and procedures,
it defines who is the law enforcement officer and what category and what
type of calls go into that mix. If you look at the policies and procedures
Constables are being sent to accident calls on Highway 6 south ...major
accident calls. And that was an understanding that the Constables had
with the Sheriff. And that, as I said before, is what we have as policies
and procedures just like the general orders for Bryan Police Department,
just like the policies and procedures for the Sheriffs office. That's the
only way we can all stay on the same page is if we have polices and
procedures and we go by them.
If more service is requested then that's exactly what we do. We sit down
and we look at the resources that we have and the way that we get to
provide those services. That is exactly why the radio positions were split
out; because more service was requested because the Sheriff s office calls
for service have increased. And in order to get radio traffic expediently
sent, we had not one person to do it...we have to break it out to two
people. That doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of planning, a lot of
money to buy new radios and to buy new radio equipment and to hire the
dispatchers. There is absolutely no good if this piece of equipment and
this chair is going to unless I have a person to sit in that chair.
Cauley: So you don't have that?
Godwin: We are closer as we speak. Let me just ...and I've said this before in
Commissioners' Court and I've said it in to the Board ...we have worked
very hard to increase the benefits and to get our staff fully staffed. We are
closer each and every time we talk about how we're getting there. Our
methods of recruitment. We have five empty slots. We have six people in
training and we have one position that is out on military leave. We have a
lot of people working overtime. We have supervisors who are working a
radio position instead of in their supervisor office. So as I said, it doesn't
happen overnight but I have a very competent staff who is working very
hard to get where we need to be. And we take direction from the entities
that we have contracts with. And it's not just the Sheriff s office and it's
not just the police department. It's with the City of Bryan and the County.
Cauley: When would you say we'll get there.
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Godwin: Oh, I wish it was yesterday. For dispatchers, it takes a little over four
months to train them just in the basic training. They each have to go to a
three day emergency medical dispatch training and then a week long of
TCIC training. And that is for one dispatcher. And we do have to have
trainers on staff ...and we do...24/7 for on staff training. I hate to project
anything because as soon as I do we have some catastrophe and
everybody goes to Bryan Police Department or the SO or some other
entity. As far as we can, we will get it done.
Cauley: As fast you can.
Godwin: Because it's not just a help to the County, it's a help to my center.
Because those dispatchers are working overtime because we're short
staffed. And they want it just as bad as everybody else. So what we have
to do as administrators and board members is to facilitate that need. And
as I said, I think I have a very qualified staff and are very competent that
is doing the best they can. So as soon as we possibly can. I hope that
answers that.
Cauley: Answers my question?
Godwin: Did I?
Cauley: Well, "As fast as we can.", that's infinity.
Godwin: How about... you want a time line?
Cauley: Well, the only thing ...I'm not trying to be funny...
Godwin: No, I understand that.
Cauley: But, I guess, for myself, I'm about as frustrated as some of the people out
here.
Godwin: Absolutely.
Cauley: But the thing I've said earlier; I've been here twelve years, fourteen
years, and this is been something that has been going on for fourteen
years. Somehow we need to, as the Sheriff said ...we need to come to
some kind of conclusion sooner or later. I mean you take a sore and it
keeps festering and festering and festering and that's not good for the
County and it's not good for any of us.
Godwin: And I have to echo what the Sheriff and Chief Marrow said; this is the
first step in getting it done. After the interlocal is set up then dialog and
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discussion has to occur, `Ok. What's the plan? How are we going to
accomplish this?' And as a 911 director, I will do my best to facilitate the
contract.
Cauley: All I want is for the complaints to stop and the citizens to be protected.
Godwin: You and me both. Like I said, we have to be aware of what's going on
and I think all of my entities do a real good job of reporting any kind of
concerns they have so we can investigate them. Did that answer your
question?
Cauley: Well...
Sims: We've got three more here and we're going to cut this off. I think we
have heard everything, probably, that needs to be said. We need better
coverage. We need better response time. We need to get together and
make sure the response to incidents out there are handled in a very
expeditious manner ...which means as fast as we can get it done. Isaac
Butler would like to speak and after Isaac then Wayne Thompson and
then James H. Taylor.
Butler: Commissioners and County Judge; I just have a couple of things to say;
to me, the solution to the problem before we signed this agreement of a
very small... everything inside the city limits of Bryan/College Station is
well taken care of. And the only problem I think that most of the
Constables have about the call is just on the far out County part. And the
only thing they asked Dispatch to do is when they notify the Sheriff,
notify us on our channel. And that's the way that if we are right around
the corner and the Sheriff can't make it, we can call in and say we are two
minutes away and we can stand by there until the Sheriff comes. I think
that's the only part of it. It's not a big solution to the problem. It's easy.
And that's the only thing, I think, we're asking for from the beginning.
Because if they call me, I'm at the car, only thing I will do until the
Sheriff gets there is I stand by. And if he tells me to do something else
while he takes over the thing then that's what I would do. I'm not here
trying to take over nobody's position. Only thing I'm here is to assist if
they need me. If they don't need me, you won't see me there. And I think
that's ...the problem is very small.
Sims: Make it simple.
Butler: It is simple. If everybody puts their heads together ...you have a small
problem like this ...it doesn't even have anything to do with Dispatch ...I
know this isn't protocol. But if you're on one mike, you've put all this
call, another second ...what is it to put it out on another channel. Then if
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we're close, we're going to answer it. Then we say we're going to stand
by until the Sheriff... if we're not close and they need some assistance,
and they say, "No, we don't need you to come.", it won't be no
assistance. So it's easy. But since we've signed this agreement,
everybody is trying to get on the same page and it will work better. But
this problem came before the agreement was signed and it really wasn't a
problem. It's just a lack of communication and everybody got...well,
let's just say everybody has egos. That's what it is. That's all what it was.
Ego. Now everybody is trying to work together but that was just the main
problem there. That's all. But the only thing I can talk for is my
department. I don't interrupt nothing unless they call to assist. Now if I'm
there, I will call in just like if they have a wreck in Bryan. I stand there
until the officer gets there. Sometimes they'll be ten or fifteen minute and
then if they need me to work traffic, I'll do that. But that's all I'm
getting ...we're all just supposed to be here to help the citizens of Brazos
County because without them we wouldn't be...elected or nobody would
even be here in the first place. So it's all of the people in Brazos County
show, not ours. We're just little `ole workers, that's all. And if we keep
that in mind all of the time, there won't be no problem. Serve and protect.
That's all. Thank yall.
Sims: Well said. Thompson?
Thompson: Well I think Chris and Chief Marrow kind of summed the thing up on one
side and they were responding to calls that they respond. That call is
going out to them. That is for them. But on the other hand we've got
officer out here that may be somewhere close and because of officer
safety, he should know about what's going on. If there is a burglary,
armed robbery or something like that going on, it needs to be dispatched
to whoever is going to take the call whether it's College Station, SO, or
whoever. But we as Constables need to know what's going on. I've got
Deputies out there that could get shot because they didn't know anything
was going on. It wasn't dispatched to them. That's the big thing that
concerns me is not knowing and having one of my officers drive up and
stop a car that just robbed a bank. That's the big thing. We don't want to
answer the calls, we just want to know about it for our safety and the
safety of the rest of the public. That's the main thing; officer safety and
public safety. Thank you.
Sims: Thank you. Taylor?
Taylor: My name is James Taylor and I'm a reserve Deputy Constable with
Precincts 1. I volunteer my time to work for the community. I don't get
paid to do it. My number one concern is officer safety out there. My
fellow officers that work for the Sheriff's Department, for the City PD,
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Constables' offices... officer safety is the number one issue. If there is an
officer out there that needs assistance, he's not going to worry about
whether his fellow department officers show up or a Constable, or
someone else. They need to know what's going on. Just like Duane
Thompson stated; if the Sheriff s Department got a robbery call out in the
County and one of our officers pulls over that vehicle and we're not
notified of the description of the vehicle or anything... that officer gets
out, doesn't know anything about it, gets shot ...that's going to be a
liability on the County. How are they going to explain that? Are they
going to dish out the thousands of dollars to pay that officer's family?
That's the issues I'm here to talk about; the officer safety issues. We're
all law enforcement officers here whether you're a Constables or
Sheriffs Office, municipal I've been a municipal peace officer, and
I've been a Constable, Deputy Constable. I have the same training. I have
to go through the required training that every other peace officer in here
goes through ...even as a reserve officer. And I've even been through
more training. So we're all peace officers. We're all here to serve the
community. We need to put down the egos and work together to serve
this community... every one of us. Together. That's all I have to say.
Sims: Thank you very much. I want to thank yall for coming tonight. I think
this has been very beneficial. I think we know where you're coming from
which is speed of response. If we've got people in that particular area
then turn them loose and let them at least go in and take control of a
crime scene and step out of the way when the Sheriff gets there if that's
his business, his crime scene, because he's got the people that are
knowledgeable about doing. The same way on the campus out there and
the same way in Bryan/College Station. But I think the communications
is important. Whoever is on it says, "Deputy Sheriff so-and-so, I
understand you're headed to a scene, I'm right here, I'm there. There's
nothing happening right now. Whatever happened, happened already. But
I'm going to stay here until you get there. Now if you want me to stay
and direct traffic or whatever it is that the Sheriff office wants you to do."
There's nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact when somebody
calls, I'm sure those Deputy Sheriffs show up with Deputy Sheriffs
because they are there to help. And I'm sure they wouldn't mind having
the Constables to help them either. So we're going to get this thing fixed.
We're going to work on it. I'm kind of like Betsy ...don't ask me for a
time frame but we want to get this fixed as quickly as possible. Because
lives are at stake when these men and women go out into the community
and answer calls. So what we're going to work on this, continue to work
on it, work on it hard, and hopefully that piece of paper with the MOU
gets to me very quickly and then we're going to run with ...these five
people up here. We're going to make some, probably, hard decisions.
Probably not going to make everybody happy but we're going to make
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some hard decisions and make sure that Brazos County has the best law
enforcement whomever it may be. That's all I can say. The meeting is
over. I adjourn the meeting.
Tape ends.
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The foregoing minutes of the Commissioners Court
Workshop held August 12th, 2008, have been examined and
approved in open Court this the day of J~LOV, 20o~-,
in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas.
Duane Peters
Commissioner,
Precinct No. 2
Carey Cau e Jr.
Attest:
Commissi er,
Precinct 4
- fl4et
a en McQueen
County Clerk
Lloyd Wassermann
Commissioner,
Precinct No. 1
Kenny Mal a d
Commissioner,
Precinct No. 3
Vol [n I Page 1161.