Department Initiatives—Technology
Communication Division Sets the Bar for Quality Assurance
The duties and responsibilities of personnel accepting and pro- cessing emergency calls from the public have grown exponen- tially over recent years, and the lack of sufficient technological equipment and software negatively impacts the overall quality of service that can be provided. Recognizing this, the Fort Worth Police Department’s Communication Division has worked diligently since 2012 to secure funding to install a new digital audio recording system, as well as, software to assist with quality assurance.
Phase I replaced a 2003 digital recording system that was experiencing several outages due to equipment fail- ure that caused loss both in radio and phone recordings. These recordings are required to be archived and re- tained for a minimum of one year and available for investigative and open records purposes. Funding for Phase I was obtained through the City’s IT department and was completed in 2014. Phase II of the Communication Division’s Quality Assurance project was completed in 2015 and enables the Department to comply with new best practice quality assurance and audio logging standards. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) announced new ANSI-approved Standard for the Establishment of a Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement (QA/QI) Program defining the minimum components and best practices of a QA/QI program within a public safety communications center. The recommended requirements are intended to ensure a consistent, effective and efficient level of service and a standard process for all tele- communicators to ensure call taking and radio dispatch actions are delivered at the highest possible standard. The Fort Worth Police Department’s Communication Division is now one of the leaders in the industry, and is participating in national webinars to showcase its practices.
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