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Police Communications,
home to 115 civilian employees, has the primary responsibility
of answering all 9-1-1 calls within the city limits. Additionally,
Communications houses several specialized units providing services
for citizens, officers and detectives.
In
2002 Police Communications, a twenty-four hour a day/365 day a year
operation, answered over a million calls from citizens. Dispatchers
sent officers on 300,000 calls for service. Throughout these daily
operations, Communications has provided support and direction to
officers involved in emergency situations ranging from pursuits
to critical police incidents.
The
past year has brought about technological changes as well as growing
pains. In November of 2002, Communications came online with a new
multi-million dollar CAD and Mobile Data System. In October of 2003,
Communications re-occupied the primary Communications building which
had been renovated in just under 12 months.
Communications
is responsible for monitoring four primary talk groups, assigned
geographically throughout the city on a Motorola 800 Mhz trunked
radio system. In addition to monitoring and dispatching on the four
primary talk groups, our dispatchers are responsible for monitoring
and responding to requests on countless other talkgroups.
Our
agency is now Phase II compliant and receives latitude/longitude
data from Phase II compliant cellular phones during 9-1-1 calls.
Each calltaking position is equipped with Positron Powermap and
capable of then processing that latitude/longitude data to receive
an actual location on the mapping software.
Communications
has changed drastically since the following photo was taken. Below,
Eddie Hall, working in PIC in 1975.
At
that point, call takers relayed cards with call details written
on them to the dispatchers by a conveyor belt. The dispatchers tracked
unit availability and location by sticking the cards in the slot
that corresponded with the unit’s call sign. Let’s just
say, Communications has come a long way technologically.
Our
dispatchers now use state of the art computer, phone and network
systems to complete their duties.
PIC or Police Information Center, provides teletype, criminal history
checks and warrant/property checks for field personnel. In 2002,
PIC confirmed 8000 out of agency warrants and at least double that
on persons with warrants in Fort Worth. Additionally, PIC answered
200,000 requests for information from officers over the radio. PIC
enters and maintains all records of the Fort Worth Police Department
that are appropriate for the TCIC/NCIC computer systems.
CRIU
or Communications Research and Investigation provided audio tapes
for 2,000 cases and investigations. Additionally, this employee
compiles statistics on response times and total calls for the division.
CRIU collects data for and responds to open records requests for
statistics, telephone recordings and other pertinent information.
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