Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

DIVERSION PROGRAM


Chicago Planning 911 Diversion Program to Encourage Residents Not to Call 911 For Everything
By Dane Placko, FOX Chicago News & Better Government Association

Chicago - For as long as Chicago has had 911, the goal has been to respond to each and every call. But the police, put simply, are overwhelmed.
For every 911 call that deals with a real emergency -- a fire, a shooting, an accident -- the city's Office of Emergency Management receives many more calls from people who need less immediate help for things like loud music, a stolen bicycle, or a drunk on the corner.
"We're still probably the only major city in the country that still responds to calls that other cities do not respond to," said OEMC Deputy Director Clarence Thomas.
In 2010, Chicago's 911 system received over five million calls, but the CPD is down more than 1,100 officers and something has got to give.
"We're not gonna get the additional ten thousand officers or one thousand police officers that everybody would like to have," said CPD Commander Jim Roussell. "So we have to be a little smarter about how we do it."
So to make for a smarter system, FOX Chicago News and the Better Government Association have learned the city has been quietly working on what it calls the "911 Diversion Program," a multi-faceted attempt to take a fresh look at how 911 works and which calls are responded to.
We learned of the 911 Diversion Program while reporting on the Central Austin Neighborhood Association, a group of West Side Austin residents who have been complaining about 911 response.
"We do believe there are certain neighborhoods that do get 100 percent response to all types of calls. And to not do that in this community is not right," said Ron Reid, who with his wife, Serethea, head up the Austin neighbors group. They want the proposed 911 Diversion Program to impact all neighborhoods equally and they're worried that if police don't respond to all quality of life calls, their neighborhood will suffer.
Police point out that they currently dispatch a squad car, often with two officers, to fill out reports for simple thefts and garage break-ins. Under the 911 Diversion Plan, Chicago residents would be encouraged to go online and fill out their own police reports. The program would also encourage citizens to find other ways to deal with quality of life issues, like a noisy bar. Rather than calling the cops, they'll be encouraged to call 311 for other city departments or work proactively with neighborhood groups and aldermen to find solutions.
"In order for it to work, everyone has to buy into the whole process of using 911 to deal with your real emergencies. A drunk in and of itself is not an emergency," Thomas said.
The 911 diversion program is still in the planning stages, there's no date set for a rollout, and it will undoubtedly face scrutiny from the City Council, since Aldermen have in the past put political pressure on the police department to respond to every call.
And there's still the issue of measuring 911 response; the city has refused our Freedom Of Information Act requests for response times.
"If we don't have comparative figures on the 911 response times neighborhood to neighborhood, how can we figure out which neighborhoods need more cops and which need less?" said Andy Shaw, executive director of the BGA. "It's not just about crime statistics. Crime stats are one barometer for the amount of manpower you need. But so is response time to 911. Every neighborhood in Chicago deserves a roughly equal 911 response time."
The city has argued that releasing 911 response times would be like giving the bad guys a map on where to commit crimes.