911 Consolidation Update - Sheriff Fries Is The Only Roadblock Left
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 11/25/08 @ 3:54 pm - Filed Under Featured, Local Politics
I spoke with commissioner Nelson Peters last week about a variety of topics including the controversial county pay raise proposal which I previously wrote about. We also discussed 911 consolidation and I wanted to update everyone on where that stands (I’ll also have a future post on the Bridge Maintenance fiasco).
To make a long story short, Sheriff Ken Fries is the only major roadblock left in consolidation. Peters has submitted a draft proposal for consolidation to Mayor Henry that would make take the two 911 departments and put them under the umbrella of the Multiple Agency Community Partnership. A joint city-county appointed board of directors would oversee the operations with the director of Homeland Security also having a seat on the board.
While Sheriff Fries continues to resist consolidation, Peters did admit that the commissioners could force the sheriff to go along with the consolidation plan. I asked Peters point-blank if the mayor signed off on his proposal would he have the support of the other commissioners and he said no. Peters indicated that commissioner Bill Brown is still against forcing the sheriff into consolidation.
I asked Brown about his position on this and he said “I’m not interested in forcing the sheriff to go along with consolidation. I just don’t think that’s good public policy.” While Brown is pushing for buy-in from the sheriff, Peters doesn’t think it’s going to happen. Peters said he hopes Brown will ultimately come to the conclusion that he has - namely that the only way it’s going to happen is if the commissioners force it.
My thought is that Sheriff Fries has had a long time to become part of the consolidation process and if he hasn’t bought in by now then he probably never will. As of today, nearly everyone is on board and there’s a proposal on the mayor’s desk. The only one holding it up is Fries and, based on the conversations I’ve had, it doesn’t sound like that’s going to change anytime soon…
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10 Responses to “911 Consolidation Update - Sheriff Fries Is The Only Roadblock Left”
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I respectfully suggest you have a conversation with Kenny directly. I think you will find it enlightening.
Candice:
Unless he’s got something REALLY good up his sleeve, I can’t see the point in duplicating services.
Here is my problem with one more commission running something. Who is held accountable? I think of the Airport Autority, Plan Commission, Zoning Appeals Board, and the list goes on….
I have no doubt they should be combined but I favor the Sheriff be in charge. He has complete legal authority within Allen County. He is also voted into and out of office by every voter in Allen County. The buck would stop at his desk.
What is the public going to do or how can we hold anyone accountable for a screwup by 911. People appointed to some board as favor for someone who they supported in some election….
J.Q.;
No matter if the elected sheriff is “held accountable” or a commission or board composed of several persons with expertise in public safety communications, the taxpayer will be the one that foots the bills for “screw-ups.
Just because a sheriff is elected does not give that one person the knowledge to administer
anything. It only means that person won a popularity contest. The sheriff fears the loss of power and control. Take a look at the news around the state and you can see how many “numb nuts” have been elected sheriff!
On the other hand. If a “commission”, or “Board” is not created with a great deal of care (school boards being an example), you get hosed twice.
When all power and control is held by one person decisions made at the top fail to take into consideration the poor slob on the bottom that must carry them out (example Germany in WWII).
Say what you will but when several minds can concentrate on one part of a process, the resulting solution seems to have a better outcome. Plus, you have to wait up to four years to get rid of a dumb decision maker. Not necessarily so with a board.
Neil,
There are no cards or anything else up his sleeves (I do the laundry in our home), but this is why I humbly suggest a discussion with him directly. While I am certainly not looking to find more work for him, I, like J.Q., believe the office of Sheriff should be in charge if it is combined. Accountability and transparency seem to become blurred with boards. Public safety must come first and all residents of Allen County should have a say in who represents them in something so basic.
I agree that the Sheriff should have control of a consolidated 911. In my opinion, it is VERY important that we have as many elected officials as possible responsible for services that directly effect our public safety. Here is an interesting fact: An individual can live in the inner city of Fort Wayne, or in a part of unincorporated part of Allen County. The Sheriff is the primary individual responsible, by law, for the safety of both individuals. I am confident that Sheriff Fries would select a competent individual to manage this area that is a very important segment of the “first responder” part of public safety. And I have an idea whom that person should be, but I keep it to myself until I talk to the Sheriff.
We have the appointed Fort Wayne Police Chief, who reports directly to the Mayor. We have the Fort Wayne Fire Chief, who reports directly to the Mayor. All major departments are elected or report direclty to the top elected person. However, like so many boards we want to push this key department to a cross government reporting commission.
Right now if Chief York hears something going on via dispatch he can call up the manager running dispatch and ask what the heck is going on? Likewise the Sheriff can do that now but under some commission can they do like wise?
We all yell about smaller government yet here is one more case so many want to see it expanded with one more layer of unaccountable apointees.
What you will see in the future is hiring of more outside contractors to advise the board what new equipment the two departments should seek. The new commission will end up with their own joint budget.
Right now there is some “letter of understanding” that is being floated around. As they say the “devil is in the details” and if we have not learned from the bailout of Wall Street then let us jam this thing through.
I will maintian my belief the Sheriff should be person in charge of 911. I have yet to see one valid arguement that supports any other position. Let alone one more level of government being added.
Totally agree with the Sherrif being in charge. But then why doesn’t Fries come out and say what is on his mind? Quit worrying about the fallout and do the right thing. If we have learned anything from Matt Kelty is to do what is right and then do it with gusto.
Quit hiding out looking for the next angle to promote hidden agendas. Look what the board of the Library did to us? Did we need a million dollar Jeff Krull Grand Hall or just a nice place to read,keep books?
Earlier today, I asked a couple of County officers what their thoughts on 911 consolidation were. They first stated that they did not think that consolidation would produce a quicker response time or increase public safety in any manner. I then asked, if consolidation did take place but control was not placed directly in the hands of Sheriff Fries, do they think this would diminish public safety in any way. They both answered in the negative.
According to these officers, under the current system, calls from areas near the edge of the city frequently get routed to the incorrect dispatch but are immediately redirected as soon as the address is given. In their opinion, the time delay for such occurrences is negligible. They also did not see any merit to the belief that not having the call center directly under one’s control would inhibit any law enforcement official from receiving immediate and full information about what is going on.
According to them, under the current system if Chief York heard something on the County dispatch channel, he could call the County and immediately be told everything that he wanted to know. They stated that this works in the reverse too. They also stated that any officer from either of these agencies would also be able to get information without delay.
This was certainly not a scientific poll, but it makes me curious what we would hear if we interviewed all LEO’s in the county about this issue. It seems like the people who work closely with the system on a daily basis might have some useful information to add to the dialogue.
Now, regarding Sheriff Fries claim that he is responsible for the entire county (including Fort Wayne), all I can say is that there seems to be a major difference between what he says and what he does. Two years ago, when my life was threatened and a high ranking FWPD officer laughed at me about the situation, I called ACSD to request help. The first thing I was told is that although their department does have legal authority to act within Fort Wayne, they like to respect the jurisdictional boundaries of FWPD.
When I stressed that a member of FWPD Command Staff had made a comment to me which I took to be a threat to my life, the person I spoke with said she’d talk to someone in her department and get back to me on it. I never heard back from her on that. I also sent a letter to Sheriff (Herman) explaining the situation and specifically requesting that his department begin patrolling my neighborhood. I received no response to this letter.
Granted, I have never sent a letter directly to Sheriff Fries, but I do know this. He occasionally sends his officers here to serve warrants. Between what they observe and other information which he is privy to, there is no way he can honestly say that he does not realize that violent gangs continue to sell crack cocaine on the streets in my neighborhood. According to his own statements, it is his right and his duty to involve himself in this matter when FWPD is not handling it correctly themselves.
I would say the rock which was thrown through my living room window a few nights ago leans towards saying the problem here is not yet under control. FWPD has had at least thirteen years to work on my neighborhood and continuously failed. The relative quiet right now is due far more to the inclement weather than to any actions taken by FWPD. So I wonder, when the open-air drug markets return this spring, will Sheriff Fries live up to his promise to serve and to protect all the citizens of Allen County?
Well, Sheriff Fries has allowed two years to pass where he has chosen to not involve himself with the problems within the city. This leads me to assume that under Fries control, 911 calls within the city might also be given a lower priority than those outside the city limits.
Phil,
I think you make some interesting points. But here comes the however…. Sheriff Fries did come out and state he wanted to join forces with the FWPD in striking against gangs. It was rebuffed by Chief York…. County police running around doing their “own” thing in helping you out could result in a shooting or other trouble between the FWPD and ACSD.
If it was up to me we would have one county wide department for a bunch of reasons, which does not include costs.
You have had a running battle with the FWPD in not responding to your calls, responding to letters, and in general more often then not blowing you off 24/7. I guess why would you think a dispatch center would respond any better to everyone’s needs?
Skill and staffing level are the critical needs of a good dispatch center. Take away skills or staffing level and people could well die. I want someone to head that department that I can hold accountable. I do not want someone who reports to some 2nd tier level commission who has little to no public view doing it.
I am waiting on ANYONE who can step up and explain to me how any appointed, 2nd tier commission has done an outstanding job in serving all the people of Fort Wayne or Allen County.