American Indian Report - June 2008 - (Page 12)

Tulalip Tribes: Streamlining Dispatch with CAD NO MATTER WHICH TRIBAL POLICE force you ask, if it is using computer-aided dispatch (CAD), it will tell you it does not know how it got along without it. Perhaps no other police department function is more critical than dispatch. Dispatchers are usually the first point of contact for emergency and crime-related calls. Not only do they field the calls, but they must prioritize them too. To officers responding to an incident, dispatchers are a lifeline. They are the people they call when they need information on law violators. They are the ones they call for backup. They know where every unit is at any given time. If an officer does not respond in a certain amount of time, they send another unit to check on them. How does any police dispatcher does it all with just pen, paper and memory? While more and more tribal police departments have automated much of the dispatch process with CAD, some still do it manually. The Tulalip Tribes of Washington’s police department, a 49employee force, went without CAD until 2005. Bonnie Juneau, office manager, said, “We were averaging 200 to 400 calls for service per month. We may have been handling more than that, but we just didn’t have a way to track it.” CAD systems assist in prioritizing service calls, assigning officers to incidents and updating incidents. They also give dispatch fast access to databases and allow them to monitor in real time where resources are. Tulalip Police using a public lution develop a product the chose, Juneau s of its ease of us “It has been efit to us. It ha massive amou handwriting an information,” J For Juneau, pluses of the statistical feat department lot. It can now tribes’ board of Mohegan Tribe: Always Watching ONLY 700 ACRES LARGE, the One of the standard tools including having access to phone, 120-co Mohegan Tribe’s reservation the tribe’s police department funding. It holds a position on gency operatio in Uncasville, Conn., is small, has is a 900 megahertz radio the state’s homeland security Between 25,0 but as home to Mohegan system, which is compat- steering committee and uses visitors come ible with the system the ICALL/ITAC radio system ing the week; a used at the casino, to directly communicate with to 60,000 com and its 17 sworn of- the Connecticut Department weekends, and ficers carry portable of Homeland Security’s Re- monitor the 32-channel radios. gion 4. 3,400 continuo It also has a backup Dispatch is completely au- video cameras radio system that tomated. If an incident arises reservation str operates in the 460 during the darker hours in point they ente Dispatch at the Mohegan Tribal Public Safety Building. megahertz range. one of the reservation’s few tion, to the cas Photo courtesy of the Mohegan Tribal Police Department. Because the de- unlit areas, the responding of- the casino. Disp Sun Resort and Casino, one partment shares jurisdiction ficer can use the department’s the activity rec of the world’s largest casinos, with the state, it works in con- night vision equipment to digitized syst it has a big need for a well- junction with state agencies address it. Though it only has tabs on traffic, equipped police force — and and is treated the same as any used it once in the two years crimes. other department in the state, since activated, it has a 34-teleit has one. The video sys 12 June 2008 American Indian Report http://www.tulaliptribes-nsn.gov/home.aspx http://www.interact911.com/ http://www.tulaliptribes-nsn.gov/home.aspx http://www.mohegan.nsn.us http://www.mohegansun.com http://www.ct.gov/demhs/site/default.asp http://www.ct.gov/demhs/site/default.asp http://www.mohegansun.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Indian Report - June 2008

American Indian Report - June 2008 Contents Ethics & Standards of Conduct: Governing Work Habits of Elected Officials Congress: Activity on the Hill Catching Up with the Curve Grants: Police Equipment Assistance from the Federal Government The Pottery Project Neighbors Helping Neighbors Where They Belong Spreading the Word “Poverty is Not a Part of Our Culture” Strategic Planning: Step 1 — An Assessment of Now Saving the Samala Language

American Indian Report - June 2008

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