Stronger partnerships between federal, state and local governments are
no longer simply a means for creating public savings. They are a necessity
for ensuring public safety. Critical to this mission are streamlined communications
and integrated response systems.
During the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington D.C., the
anthrax attacks, and the sniper attacks in Maryland and Virginia, local 9-1-1 operators and emergency call centers were overwhelmed. In some
areas, residents found it impossible to have real contact with law enforcement
or emergency services at a time when that contact was most needed.
In each case, state, local, and federal officials responded well under
difficult circumstances, but the nation learned some important lessons:
First, our law enforcement systems need to communicate more effectively,
share information more openly, and integrate their operations more seamlessly.
Second, the most effective time to set up for a crisis situation is before
one begins, not once one is underway. Third, relying on traditional 9-1-1
call systems to handle every emergency is shortsighted and perhaps even
dangerous.
Applying those lessons, a number of state and local officials across
the nation are building "integrated emergency response systems"
that leverage new technologies to give citizens and emergency responders
greater flexibility to identify potential threats and respond in crisis
situations. They are building these systems in ways that compliment existing
emergency response infrastructures, and they are managing to maintain
a sense of fiscal discipline in the process.
In Detroit, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has developed a comprehensive emergency
response plan that proactively conducts risk assessments of potential
targets such as waterworks and power plants. It identifies both short-
and long-term priorities, and provides top-flight emergency response and
prevention training. And it encourages community involvement through neighborhood
watches.
In New Hampshire, Gov. Jeanne Shaheen recognized that terrorism poses
a potential threat to commerce, and that greater cooperation is needed
between federal, state, and local governments to address that threat.
Her "Operation Safe Commerce" efforts have allowed emergency
responders to collect and compare data from a number of sources to detect
signs of tampering and better ensure cargo safety.
In Maryland, where emergency responders were unable to coordinate with
teams from Virginia and the District of Columbia on Sept. 11 because they
were all using different radio frequencies, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy
Townsend helped implement an innovative real-time communications network.
A pilot program arms many first responders with handheld computers that
allow instant messaging to different jurisdictions. It provides them a
way to post information on suspicious activities, persons, or cars, and
it gives them access to key law enforcement database records.
One of the critical components in effective integrated response systems
is more efficient handling of the calls flooding 9-1-1 lines. Some jurisdictions
report that as many as 60 percent are not related to emergencies, putting
an undue burden on the system. To alleviate that pressure, many jurisdictions
are setting up 3-1-1 systems to disseminate up-to-date information to
citizens who don't need immediate help from emergency responders.
The results have been dramatic. Mayor Martin O'Malley reported in 2001
that Baltimore had received 560,574 calls to its 3-1-1 line. Since the
city implemented the system in 1996, it has seen both the number of abandoned
9-1-1 calls and the average emergency response time drop by half.
The 3-1-1 system is not only helping to save lives; it is saving taxpayer
money. When Mayor O'Malley expanded it to include easy public access to
all non-emergency government services, it saved the city $13.2 million
by eliminating redundancy, overtime, and extraneous expenditures.
The benefits will snowball as state and local officials around the country
add more new innovations to a growing national web of emergency response
systems.
