Metropolitan Emergency Services Agency presents staffing, technology and wait‑time goals ahead of 2026 budget

Metropolitan Emergency Services Agency (Mesa) leaders told the Indianapolis City-County Council Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee on Sept. 3 that Mesa is investing in staffing, technology and accreditation as it finalizes its 2026 budget.

Mesa Chief Tom Sullis opened the presentation by calling the agency’s telecommunicators “the quiet professionals,” and said the 9-1-1 center handled roughly 1,600,000 calls in 2024, including multiple critical incidents and instances where phone instructions contributed to saving lives.

Mesa’s presentation outlined three immediate priorities: increase staffing in the 9-1-1 call center, pursue CALEA accreditation and modernize communications infrastructure. "We are at 15 seconds before we answer that call," Sullis said, citing the agency’s 2025 average and noting national standards from APCO and NENA that recommend answering 90% of calls within 15 seconds.

Why this matters: The 9-1-1 center is a first‑responder service that county safety agencies rely on. Shorter answer times and consistent triage can affect outcomes for medical, fire and behavioral‑health calls.

Key details from the presentation

- Staffing and diversity: Sullis said Mesa is near budgeted staffing levels and running active hiring to reach its authorized headcount. He noted leadership is roughly 60% female and the executive branch about 49% minority, and Mesa continues targeted outreach at job fairs.

- Wait times and performance goals: Sullis and Mesa staff contrasted 2022 hold-time averages (about 34 seconds at Mesa’s founding) with 2025 averages of 15 seconds. Sullis acknowledged occasional long holds and said those are investigated: "That 5 minute hold time definitely concerns me. I would definitely want to know more information on that to look into to see what happened at that time on that call," he said.

- Grants and funding: CFO Frank Barelli described Mesa’s funding mix: a state‑regulated 9-1-1 service charge, a portion of county income tax (PFC), and recurring federal grants including EMPG (Emergency Management Performance Grant) and UASI (Urban Areas Security Initiative). He said UASI awards vary and include set allocations (for example, a portion reserved for state distribution and a percentage that must go to law enforcement). Sullis said the agency used grant funding to upgrade the Emergency Operations Center’s visual situational awareness display.

- Technology and contracts: Barelli and Sullis explained that some budget shifts make existing contracts appear larger year‑to‑year. They said a roughly 3% escalation in a major radio contract (Motorola) was reallocated into the repairs-and-maintenance character this year, producing what appeared as a jump in that line but reflected contract accounting changes rather than a one‑time price shock.

- Redundancy and resilience: Sullis said Mesa has installed battery backup systems and acquired three generators to reduce single points of failure at radio tower sites and maintain communications during outages.

Questions from council members

Councilors pressed Mesa for data and follow up. Councilor Brianne Delaney said a constituent reported a five‑minute 9-1-1 wait and asked the agency to investigate; Sullis asked for the constituent’s contact information so staff could review the call recording. Councilor Carlos Perkins and others asked how often a caller waits to speak with a human after the initial answer; Sullis said the center’s triage prioritizes location and nature of the emergency and that telecommunicators are trained to keep callers on the line when needed and to route mental‑health calls to CLCR (the city’s behavioral‑health response partner) or to 988 when appropriate.

Mesa representatives said they track referrals to CLCR and 988 and will provide counts on requests for those services to councilors who asked for the data. Sullis described a "warm handoff" process used to transfer callers to 988 when appropriate and said the center works with CLCR to co‑train staff and place CLCR staff near telecommunicators so they can catch crisis calls in real time.

Looking ahead

Mesa said its 2026 budget includes targeted increases for hiring, a planned civilian director of Public Safety Communications, ongoing contract maintenance for radio systems, and continued grant pursuit. The agency also said it is considering AI and other non‑human solutions for non‑emergency information lines, but is proceeding cautiously because of call‑volume scale and operational risk.

The committee did not take a formal vote on Mesa’s presentation. Councilors asked for follow‑up information on CLCR referral counts, the single 5‑minute hold incident, and the breakdown of contract allocations that affected repairs-and-maintenance figures.