Sheriff and 9-1-1 director press for more dispatch capacity; commission directs interagency meeting

Sheriff Eugene Brantley told the Augusta City Commission on March 18 that dispatch capacity and answered 9-1-1 calls remain a local concern as call volume rises.

The sheriff said citizens and deputies have reported unanswered 9-1-1 calls and that the sheriff’s office previously operated on six monitored radio channels but is now down to two channels with a third part-time channel recently added. “We just need some help with making sure that when the citizens call, that their calls are being answered,” Brantley said, citing cases in which deputies lacked timely dispatch support.

9-1-1 director Daniel Dunlap (identified in the meeting as 9-1-1 director) responded that call-answering statistics have improved, that training and retention have recently increased, and that the agency currently has six vacancies and 67 full-time positions overall. Dunlap said the center has quality-assurance monitoring and outside assistance reviewing compliance.

Commission discussion focused on the need for a focused interagency meeting to align priorities and identify resource or policy changes. Commissioner Jordan Johnson moved that the sheriff, the 9-1-1 director and the administrator meet to bring back recommendations; he amended the motion to include fire and EMS. The commission later expanded the directive to include the marshal’s office. Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle and other commissioners supported the motion, and the governing body voted unanimously to direct the administrator to convene the sheriff, 9-1-1, EMS, fire and the marshal and return with recommendations on response times and additional channels.

The commission asked staff to assemble a cumulative report of key 9-1-1 performance metrics (answer times, dispatch times and related averages) from the start of the year to the present and to brief the committee within roughly a week. Central EMS president Gary Coker told commissioners that, from the EMS operator’s viewpoint, the center’s direct dispatching of ambulances saved about two minutes per call when Central began operations two years ago; he said monthly coordination meetings between EMS, fire and 9-1-1 have helped produce steady operations.

Ending: The commission’s motion directs staff to convene a cross-agency meeting, gather performance data and return to committee with recommendations; no funding decision was made at the March 18 meeting.