Minutes were taken by Greta Mosley of the 19WCA. Minutes were to be posted on the 19wca.org after approval but there were problems with the website.  I'm posting them here for your convenience.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Public Safety Meeting – 19^th Ward

Location: Rochester Presbyterian Home ----Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

256 Thurston Rd

Rochester, NY 14619

(585) 235-9100

Minutes:

Moderator-John Borek, Neighborhood Service Center Officer- Carl Dickerson, Andy DiMaria, Special Guests, Captain Tony Mc Mullen and Damaris Rivera from 911.

Low attendance-1 neighborhood person

Introductions:

Moderator: Are there any questions from the audience?

Resident: Parties are held every weekend by a next door neighbor on Marlborough and there is underage drinking. This occurs summer or winter. In the winter, I should not have to hear their music that is very loud in my house with the doors closed. This is occurring after 10 p.m. Beer bottles would be all over the yard.

Officer: Call 911 when this is occurring, every time this occurs. We need documentation. A deposition (with detailed information) could be filed the same day or the next day and the police could issue a ticket based on the deposition’s facts. Should you not do a deposition, we have to hear the excessive noise in order to write a ticket as we are riding down the street on the night that this is occurring. This type of annoyance is a B job but it is an in progress B job and has priority over the other jobs that are considered reports (like a stolen vehicle report). Every incident would have to be a separate deposition should the police not hear the increased noise level, that is, should we not be able to arrive at the scene due to other pressing “A” jobs (crimes in progress).

Moderator: John Borek—Introduction of Damaris Rivera Telecommunicator at 911

Ms. Rivera: I am a telecommunicator at 911 and I answer calls for the department and handle policy issues as well.

Resident: How does one go about reporting known drug dealings occurring on their street?

Ms. Rivera: Be sure to give a detailed description as that will help to apprehend the subjects at a future point in time. For example, ethnicity of the individual, indicate the clothes they have on (colors, style, etc, the type of car and license plate, where they are in terms of street address etc. You can also call the drug hotline for chronic problems that is, those not in progress when you call. 911 will respond to an in

progress situation. The information on the drug hotline (call 311 or 585-428-6000) is researched by police officers; they will survey the area and report back for further investigation.

Moderator: Ms. Rivera, please inform us of how you handle a call that indicates that a brick was thrown through my front window. I am not sure it they are still there.

Ms. Rivera: Our biggest concern is location. What are the cross streets, township, who are we speaking with? We also ask for your name, phone number and address, should you want to relay that information or remain anonymous. Please provide us with a detailed description of what exactly happened; inform us if the occurrence was witnessed by someone. Also, is the situation still occurring as we speak? Should the incident is still occurring more than likely it is an “A” job that requires immediate attention. We also receive calls after the incident has happened, possibly hours ago. These calls “B” jobs are given to 311 so that a report can be taken. This is the policy that the telecommunicators have to follow it is not arbitrary.

Moderator: How do you handle a problem such as this, someone is reporting an attack or violent act and it is in progress (a priority one call)and you have to dispatch the police and an ambulance? How do you decide who to dispatch both?

Ms. Rivera: All of the calls come into 911. An event is created based on the information supplied as the details are given. The other requests for an ambulance, police, fire and ambulance will automatically be created. Police dispatchers handle only events involving the need for police and the Fire and ambulance dispatchers only handle their type of events.

Moderator: Who will get to the scene first?

Ms. Rivera: It is determined by the nature of the situation. Should this incidence be a violent act and people are hurt, someone may call to say they see the ambulance down the street. Why is this happening case? They are waiting for the police to assess the situation and report to dispatch when it is appropriate for the ambulance to enter the scene. This is called staging. When there is no violent threat the fire department will enter the scene first usually.

Moderator: Let’s assume that some has called 911 and the police do not show up. They call back in fifteen (15) minutes, no response. An hour goes by and they call in again and no one shows up. Does it make a difference for the number of calls that one person makes, or is it better that if neighbors call (the phone tree) in for the same issue does that make a difference as how the situation will be dispatched?

Ms. Rivera: It all depends on the nature of the situation and the information provided. Should a weapon be involved, the priority is bumped up. The details of the situation will dictate the priority level of the incident. After the third call about a situation, you can ask for a supervisor to review to get a better understanding for the delay. However, depending on the job type and priority level (a situation in progress or not) this will determine if police arrive at the scene. There is always a juggling act of the jobs that have been reported by the public to handle the most pressing jobs first. Life threatening situations would outweigh a property issue. For example, a fight in progress with weapons would be a priority over a theft that occurred a few hours ago.

Resident: Be mindful of the use of smart phones by the perpetrators that are violating laws, can hear the police scanners on their phones. As a result the situation that was occurring ends just before the police show up. And when the police arrive the loud noise that may have been extremely loud has stopped.

Police: Citizens can ask that the detail of the job that has been dispatched is not put on the police scanner. It will only show up on the police’s computer.

Moderator: How do you handle an ongoing problem at the high schools and sometimes grammar schools that some students are threatened by others that they will cause them physical harm? I usually have found that the parents of the students have called the school to report it and nothing is ever done about it. The child has suffered a beating. Is there any reason I should not tell the parents to fill out a crime report, (call 911)?

Resident: The schools have zone chiefs that are to be notified so that issues you mention can be investigated and documented. This information will be forwarded to you.

Police: Filing a crime report is what should happen. The son or daughter should be there to tell us the details. When the mother or father is telling the story and we don’t have names, the document is not a crime report at that juncture. It is just a report because the victim (the injured party) is not telling us. This will be used as information for possible future occurrences.

Resident: The City School District also uses Pathways to Peace to quell violence amongst students.

Moderator: What do we do when there is a rude telecommunicator?

Ms. Rivera: Call and ask to speak to a supervisor. The supervisors are civilians and not police officers.

Police: When police come and you are not satisfied, you can ask to speak to a police supervisor. There is a 30 minute time frame in which they have to respond to your request.

Moderator: When someone calls and the dispatcher will ask for your address and this should show on the dispatcher’s computer, why is this occurring?

Ms. Rivera: We have to confirm the address to send the required services ASAP. This is policy driven because we have to determine the exact location. When calling from your home phone the address that appears on our screen is the address of record. Should you move the new address is not necessarily updated. We must ask the cross streets, township, and sometimes the location is on a border, (multiple locations may have different jurisdictions) so we are required to obtain the exact location as a protection to you.

Moderator: Someone calls and there is a pit bull loose on the street? How is it decided that animal control is contacted?

M. Rivera: Is there a threat? Every agency has its own priority. In the city of Rochester, should the animal be a pit bull, Rottweiler or German Shepard it is a priority. This will be dispatched by the police dispatcher.

Police: Should animal control not be available, the dispatcher will put in a request for a police officer to take care of the situation.

Rochester Police Department Reorganization

Meet Captain Tony McMullen, who will command the Genesee Section when the Rochester Police Department converts to a five section patrol model in March, 2015.

Mayor Lovely Warren and members of the RPD will hold a series of community meetings in each of the sections to give residents and other stakeholders an opportunity to meet the new captains and learn about the latest developments in the re-organization schedule.

The meeting schedule is as follows for the Southwest (meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m.)

Location: Staybridge Hotel Castletown Room, 1000 Genesee Street Map

Contact: Chief's Office (585) 428-7033

Cost: Free.