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Communications Division

There are two sections that make up the Public Safety Communications Division -- Public Safety Communications and Information Systems. The former consists of 911 emergency phone operations and dispatching for police and fire. The latter is responsible for providing support for all computer equipment within the department.

Public Safety Communications - This year the Public Safety Communications division has had numerous successes, from providing assistance in life and death situations to enhancing the state-of-the-art technology the department utilizes. The dedicated and professional members of this division take great pride in their roles in providing public safety to the citizens of Mesa.

The Communications Center has changed over to new radio terminals in preparation for the new 800 MHz digital trunked radio system that will become operational in early to mid 2003. In the past year, the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system was upgraded to a new version to allow for enhancements. The CAD Tech Team is also working on a future version upgrade for the Mobile Computer Terminals (MCTs).

There are over 130 dedicated and professional employees who support this division in providing the highest quality service. During the past year a testing process was held to fill three newly allocated shift supervisor positions. Three employees, Michelle Lamoureaux, Tim Lee, and Jennifer Ryan-Foster were promoted to these positions. This increase in the number of shift supervisors will allow for the supervisor to employee ratio to be 11:1, which dramatically reduces the prior ratios. Because of the ongoing support of PD staff and city management in adding these positions, Communications is continuing to strive to provide quality service to all customers, whether internal or external.  Photo above left: Commander Fred Ruhland (far left) and Chief Jan Strauss (far right) with newly promoted supervisors Tim Lee, Michelle Lamoreux, and Jennifer-Ryan Foster.

The table below provides a call volume data comparison between this year and last. 

Visit the Public Safety Communications website at www.Mesaaz.gov/police/communications/default.aspx to learn about functions in the Public Safety Communications Unit.

Information Systems - The Systems Section staff consists of four systems coordinators, two sr. network analysts, a data security assistant, a LAN security analyst, a secretary and a systems administrator/SSO. This group is responsible for providing front line support. 24 hours a day for over 1,100 computer desktop PCs, laptops, notebooks, and mobile computer terminals and printers used by the department. This equipment is located at 18 locations and in 300+ vehicles. Support is provided for hardware, software, training, software applications, and database development.

This past year the department received a grant to complete outfitting all patrol officers with Panasonic CF-27 and CF-28 laptop computers. The deployment of these computers should be completed by February 2002. The computers are used as MCTs in patrol and specialty vehicles, and as their desktop PC when in the patrol station. Photo at right: Information Systems Coordinator, John Werner sets up laptops for Patrol.

The Systems team has been involved with the RFP process for new RMS and Fielding Reporting Systems, expansion of the Document Management System, upgrade of office suite products and databases, and LAN upgrades.  It is the efforts of these dedicated professionals that have helped the Mesa Police Department maintain a state-of-the-art information technology program.  For more information on the Information Systems Unit, visit www.Mesaaz.gov/police/systems/default.aspx.

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