BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
ALEX PADILLA, CHAIR
AB 423 - Torres Hearing Date:
July 7, 2009 A
As Amended: May 5, 2009 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law requires the Communication Division of the
Department of General Services (DGS) to review and update
technical and operation standards for 911 systems in
consultation with specified entities and individuals.
Current law charges the State 911 Advisory Board with advising
the Communications Division on, among other things, training
standards for county coordinators and public safety answering
point managers.
Current law created the California Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST) to establish minimum standards for
public safety dispatchers.
Current law requires that, in communities where 5 percent or
more of the population speaks a language other than English, an
interpreter for that language must be available.
This bill would require the Communications Division to review
and update the recruitment and training standards for 911
dispatchers biennially, after consultation with the advisory
board.
This bill would add one representative from POST and one
representative from the Office of the State Fire Marshal to the
advisory board.
This bill would require the advisory board to advise the
department on issues related to 911 calls from non-English
speaking callers, the need to recruit multilingual dispatchers,
and the need to create standardized basic and advanced training
programs.
BACKGROUND
The Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act - In 1976, the Warren
911 Emergency Assistance Act (911 Act) was enacted in order to
reduce the time required for a citizen to request and receive
emergency aid. Under the Act, the Department of General Services
(DGS) was designated with state oversight responsibilities for
the state's 911 system. To provide DGS with expert advice in
this area, a State 911 Advisory Board was created to advise the
department on, among other things, technical and operational
standards for the 911 system and training standards for county
coordinators and dispatch center managers.
In 1959, the Legislature established POST to set minimum
selection and training standards for California law enforcement.
POST offers basic and advanced public safety dispatcher
courses.
911 systems and multi-lingual callers - One of the most critical
aspects of the 911 response system is the handling of a
telephone request for emergency services. The dispatcher needs
to understand the nature of the emergency in order to ensure
that they can dispatch the appropriate responders. California
has the highest percentage of non-English speaking households in
the nation, making it even more essential to have multi-lingual
911 dispatchers. Current law requires that the 911 PSAPs
serving areas where 5% or more of the population speaks a
primary language other than English, must have operators who
speak that language available on duty or through a telephone
conference at all times. This requirement has been met through
a contract with a foreign language translation service provider.
COMMENTS
1. Author Concerns - According to the author's office, AB
423 addresses potential improvements in the procedures for
recruiting, training, and ongoing skill development for 911
dispatchers. 911 dispatchers perform a crucial function in
the pubic safety system. Their job is high stress and
demands precise performance in order to effective relay
calls to the appropriate response entity. Due to the
nature of 911 dispatching, recruitment and job retention is
a problem in this line of work.
2. Problems with the Receipt of Non-English Speaking
Callers? - As stated previously, it is critical for the
dispatcher to understand the emergency in order to expedite
emergency response. California has the most diverse
populous in the nation and in acknowledgement of that, DGS
is contracting with a language translation provider. Is
this provider system lacking sufficiently to warrant the
need to recruit multi-lingual dispatchers?
3. Deficiencies in Training - Dispatch centers vary in
terms of the types of training that they provide. Some use
the POST dispatcher course, and others, like the Los
Angeles Police Department, have their own training for
dispatchers. According to the author's office, some
dispatch centers provide no training at all. With this
patchwork of training standards, this bill addresses the
need to standardize training for emergency response. As
part of the Governor's Reorganization Plan, the
Telecommunications Division of DGS was consolidated under
an expanded Office of the State Chief Information Officer
(OCIO). The OCIO opposes the bill, arguing that the
training mandate in this bill on the Communications
Division is unnecessary. There are a number of
organizations that have established training standards that
are widely used by the industry nationwide. Moreover, the
OCIO argues that the Communications Division lacks the
expertise and resources to undertake the review of training
standards.
The bill requires the Telecommunications Division of DGS to
develop standards for recruitment and training of
dispatchers. It is not clear whether these are intended to
be mandatory or optional. Neither is the definition of a
recruitment standard clear. The author and committee may
wish to clarify the author's intent.
4. Technical Amendment - The OCIO points out that the
recently approved reorganization has put them in charge of
telecommunications issues. Consequently, the references to
the Telecommunications Division of DGS should be replaced
with the Public Safety Communications Division of the
Office of the State Information Officer.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (63-15)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (12-5)
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee
(11-1)
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
California Ambulance Association
California Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association
California Communities United Institute
California Statewide law Enforcement Association
California State Sheriff's Association
Oppose:
Office of the Chief State Information Officer (unless amended)
Randy Chinn/Mandy Lee
AB 423 Analysis
Hearing Date: July 7, 2009