DELAWARE STATE POLICE COMMUNICATIONS SECTION
Chief William D. Carrow
The Communications Section consists of three 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and the Headquarters Communications Center. The section is staffed by ninety-six employees and is responsible for:
• Answering 9-1-1 emergency lines and dispatching
law
enforcement personnel and equipment.
• NCIC & NLETS control, alarm monitoring and
alerting on
call teams.
• Telecommunications administration including
statewide
radio, telephone, cellular and pager systems.
• Mobile command center operations.
The statistical breakdown of the Section’s activities for 2011:
RECOM
• Total Incidents Dispatched 89,496
• Total Incidents Handled Without Dispatch 61,865
• Total Incidents Handled 151,361
• Miles Saved By Center Handled Incidents 556,785
• Total 9-1-1 Calls Received 364,210
• Total Admin Calls 158,896
KENTCOM
• Total Incidents Dispatched 52,053
• Total Incidents Handled Without Dispatch 18,033
• Total Incidents Handled 70,086
• Miles Saved by Center Handled Incidents 162,297
• Total 9-1-1 Calls Received 96,446
• Total DSP Admin Calls 105,249
SUSCOM
• Total Incidents Dispatched 92,929
• Total Incidents Handled Without Dispatch 24,123
• Total Incidents Handled 117,052
• Miles Saved By Center Handled Incidents 217,107
• Total 9-1-1 Calls Received 105,356
• Total Admin Calls 137,084
Mobile Command Center Responses 70
• Demos 2• Crowd Control 3
• SORT/CMT/EOD 10
• Assist 5
• DUI assignments 50
With the increased workload in the centers, twelve new positions were appropriated in July, and the new personnel began their training on July 18. These are the first new positions added to the Section since the mid-90’s.
Training is paramount for the Communications Section. A completely revamped basic training program was instituted with our new hires, Supervisor and leadership training summits were held, and several employees attended the APCO fall training conference at Kent Island, Maryland. Additional Communications Training Officers (CTO’s) were also certified.
In order to ensure that our employees have proper documentation to guide them, a multitude of standard operating procedures were modified and new procedures added during 2011.
The Communications Section continued its enhanced community outreach program by hosting an annual open house at SUSCOM in the spring of 2011. This very successful event was attended by nearly 1,000 school children who were treated to tours of the communications center, public safety displays and food.
During 2011 the following Section employees were honored by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) during National Public Safety Telecommunications Week in April:
Center Director of the Year- Joe Mulford- RECOM
Team Award- SUSCOM (Brian Dickerson, Jonathan Pearson and Brett Morris) (Runner Up SUSCOM Tim Finkbiner, Brian Peterson,
Brandi Ober and Brent Humphreys)
The section is also represented in the leadership of national associations. Communications Chief Bill Carrow continued to serve on the APCO International Executive Committee and in August began serving as the association’s Immediate Past President. Center Manager Ed Marecki served on the National Emergency Number Association’s board as the North Eastern Regional Director.
The Communications Section continues to perform mission critical operations while striving to provide excellent customer service. Our telecommunicators make life and death decisions each day and are truly the first-of-the-first responders.
- Information obtained from 2011 DSP Annual Report -
