City depts and Premise Alerts

[srz]

I've been working a local officer in PA on a Premise Alert form which is now county wide and is in the process of becoming a statewide program. This allows families to, for lack of a better word, register individuals with special needs with their PD and in turn the PD sends the form to the 911 center to be entered into their data base. It has been used for individuals with Autism, Alzhiemers, and rare or unusal medical issues so that all first responders know what they are walking into before they even get to the door.
Now this system is not new to 911. What is new is that Dept of Public Welfare would require the case managers in all the systems they oversee (children, youth and families, Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Aging, Human Services) to provide them annually to families in need. These forms in our 911 database expire in one calendar year. Families voluntarily fill these forms out. Now the hitch I got yesterday from DPW is "How are you going to get Philly and other large cities PD's to do this?" What I was hoping here to get is feedback, suggestions, thoughts on pros and cons when it comes to policing and these in city situations.

srz

[Ranger__101]

You won't be able to "get" any department to do it.

When it comes down to it departments are given so many un-funded mandates and items they need to keep up and keep track of, in many cases it's a big cost issue.

Now to really get the PD's and Sheriffs Officers behind this, there will need to be coordination from the State Department of Health, County Department of Health, State Chiefs of Police Association and many of the other organizations who would have an interest in having these records available.

Now we come into the cost area. Since generally every office has their own Computer Record Management System (AKA CAD), to have these files linked to the address would require an update to their system to be able to have the full information appear that's on the sheet.

A less expensive option would be to have the dispatchers "create" a call and in the comments field place the infomation that there is a sheet on this person and where to find the sheet. That creates another step for the dispatcher that they may not have time to do during an emergency call.

Your also talking about the costs of adding some one full or part time to manage these new records and make sure they are updated and current each year. As you said if they expire in 1 year they'll need to contact the party to verify everything or remove the records.

That being said.. If you were able to have some funding in a grant that could be requested for those department who wish to add this, that would help them out and make it more likely they'll join the program.

Best of luck with your project. It's definitally a worthwhile cause.

[srz]

Yes one of my greatest irritations is that I can't MAKE police officers do ANYTHING ;) THE PA PCA has endorsed it as has MPOTEC and I am working on PSP and PA NEMA as well. I hope to get any additional funding through an Executive order from Pres. Bush last year regarding disabilities and first responders. Thanks for the information I will keep that all in mind.

srz