Discuss, consider, and take appropriate action on the overall plan design for changes to Emergency Communications regarding the dispatch of law enforcement and shared support.

In July of 2021, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) was audited by the Department of Public Safety. The audit identified changes that need to be made related to the use of the Originating Requesting Agency Identifier (ORI) in Emergency Communications.
 
To address these findings, a team from WCSO, Emergency Communications, Technology Services, Budget, HR, Audit and Legal have collaboratively worked on a plan that will meet the requirements from Texas DPS. This plan requires organizational restructuring, personnel movement, and adjustment of business processes. The most significant change is the movement of personnel and the associated budgets to the Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Emergency Communications.  Fire & EMS Emergency Communications will retain responsibility for call taking, fire & EMS dispatch, and QA/QI for their staff. The separation will require the development of a new support structure for the (now) multi-agency center such as technology support, logistics, and separation of 911 Call-taking.

Attached is an overview document and organization charts. Both the Sheriff and Chris Connealy have signed this document to indicate their support and commitment to this plan.
 
If approved by the Commissioners Court, staff will continue to identify budget needs, (creating new department account numbers), identify position counts, position numbers to change, review job descriptions and compensation, and O&M costs so that such matters and items may be detailed and finalized. A proposal for staffing will be submitted to the Commissioners Court for consideration and approval. A detailed timeline will be developed to ensure the accelerated remediation of the findings identified by TX DPS. A detailed MOU for all participants to ensure clarity on roles and responsibilities is also being developed.