By Jerry Neumayer
I am writing this in response to Mr. Mark Grzan’s Oct. 2 guest column regarding the Morgan Hill Police Department dispatch contracting with the county. I am a department police officer, but am writing this as a fellow citizen of the City of Morgan Hill. When I read Mr. Grzan’s column, I was dumbfounded. Mr. Grzan wants to spend more of the city’s money to study whether or not it would be more feasible to contract with the county. The discussion of contracting with the county was researched, discussed and rejected at the August 2007 council meeting. Although I cannot tell you how much money, if any, we would save, I could tell you that the services the local police dispatchers provide as compared to the county are night and day. I am not insinuating that the county dispatchers are less adequate, in fact I am sure that they are as qualified and professional as Morgan Hill police dispatchers. I would state, that due to county dispatchers having to operate outside the city limits and having to be responsible for multiple jurisdictions, it would be conceivable to say they would not be able to devote themselves wholly to Morgan Hill. Unlike Morgan Hill police dispatchers, county dispatchers have to be familiar with Cupertino, San Martin, eastside San Jose and other county areas.
Therefore they could not provide the same dedicated service our Morgan Hill police dispatchers presently give.
Many citizens do not know everything Morgan Hill police dispatchers do; our citizens know they take 911 calls for fire and police and dispatch our police officers. The citizens probably do not know that our dispatchers also do the following and more:
Department of Public Works
- After hours call out for personnel.
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Monitoring wells and pump alarms.
Animal Control
- Monitoring kennel population for captured dogs.
Patrol
- Create photo lineups for officers.
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Generate criminal histories for officers’ investigations.
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All supporting paperwork for arrests and reports.
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Internet research when officers are on the street (current business names, etc.).
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Researching location information.
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Geography – directions for officers and the public.
Administrative
- Monitoring prisoners when they are in the jail.
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Female prisoner escorts when there are no female officers on duty.
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Updating the geofile (street addresses and phone numbers for residents).
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Updating business contact files for alarms.
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Updating alarm responsible list (this allows them to contact the responsible party when the alarm company doesn’t have one listed).
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Monitor building security cameras (After hours, dispatch has witnessed several fights that needed a patrol response).
Records
- Warrant entry into California Law Enforcement Telecommunication System (CLETS).
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Citation entry into Morgan Hill Police Department computer system.
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Compensating for short staff (i.e. helping with warrant entry/activation into CLETS).
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Special projects (i.e. DOJ audit preparations).
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CLETS entries and removal – 24 hours.
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Write reports for missing persons, theft, and other miscellaneous reports.
I have been with this department for 10 years and have experienced the services of both dispatch centers while working in a county task force. Morgan Hill residents would lose personal and quality service by going to the county. Our dispatchers take pride not only in this police department, but also the city. Our officers have complete confidence in our dispatchers and can rely on them for their personal safety. When a major event or when our officers are in a fight, our dispatchers are affected just the same emotionally. If the city were to ever contract with the county we would lose local control and personal service to an organization that does not care the same, or take as much pride in this city.
Mr. Grzan only sees numbers and fails to see the big picture. I am sure that Mr. Grzan supports public safety, but in my opinion he has championed this cause for personal reasons; it is as obvious now as it was during the council meeting when he lashed out at other council members when they decided to not go forward with this issue. You can see this meeting on the
Internet at the following address: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=321394884862192045&q=morgan+hill+city+coun
cil&pr=goog-sl.
If you are a citizen of Morgan Hill, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the police department if you have any doubts or questions about our fine dispatchers.
Morgan Hill Police Sergeant Jerry Neumayer has lived in Morgan Hill for nearly 10 years and has been in law enforcement for nearly 12 years. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran who served for four years as a military police officer. He’s married and has two children. Reach him at
mo********@ya***.com
.
