At the beginning of December, the Houston Emergency Center (911) had its latest technical mishap. Today’s Chronicle carries an op-ed by HPD Sgt. Johnnie McFarland discussing the myriad of problems the center has faced since the new and supposedly improved version was unveiled:
The Houston Emergency Center was conceived as a multimillion dollar, state-of the-art, high-tech, low-maintenance emergency communications center. But it has been a deep and bitter disappointment.
The promoted cost savings anticipated by consolidating all emergency dispatch functions under one roof are, for all practical purposes, nonexistent. The dispatch center, bought (or more accurately, leased) and paid for, remains, as one Houston City Council member described it, a work in progress.
Why is the problem-plagued dispatch center still a center of controversy? Why has the local affiliate of the largest police labor organization in the nation refused to lift last year’s vote of no confidence? Why have veteran dispatchers, call takers and supervisors chosen to retire early or seek employment elsewhere in droves?
Can the technical, operational and personnel problems be adequately resolved? And when, if ever, will they be?
These are all questions crying out for answers.
The column is filled with hard questions and underreported information, and it will soon be hidden behind the Chronicle‘s archive wall. It would be great to see the Chronicle devote some resources to this story — on the news pages.
