911 Emergency, Brickdam Operations Room examined
A Police Corporal, and two Constables manning the Operations Room as Superintendent Moore and Inspector Kilkenny give a briefing to journalist Leroy Smith on the operations of the department (Delano Williams photos)
A Police Corporal, and two Constables manning the Operations Room as Superintendent Moore and Inspector Kilkenny give a briefing to journalist Leroy Smith on the operations of the department (Delano Williams photos)

THE Guyana Police Force is very optimistic that shortly the equipment used in one of its main Operations Room, Police ‘A’ Division Operations Room at Brickdam, would be upgraded. This is according to Deputy Commander of the Division, Superintendent Dion Moore who along with Officer-in-Charge of the Operations Room, Inspector Karen Kilkenny provided this newspaper with a walkthrough of the very critical department on the advice of Commander Clifton Hicken, following a request by this publication.

 Chronicle’s Leroy Smith tests one of the phones used for the 911 Emergency Service
Chronicle’s Leroy Smith tests one of the phones used for the 911 Emergency Service

At the moment the department operates four main lines which members of the public can access at any time to make reports. Those numbers are: 227-1611, 227-1149, 227-1270, 225-6940-3 switchboard.
911 EMERGENCY NUMBER
In addition to those numbers, there is also the very much talked about 911 emergency number which for years has been regarded as a system that does not serve members of the public effectively. There are often claims that the number is allowed to go unanswered by ranks tasked with manning them but the evidence has found those claims to be far from the truth.
In an overview of a typical day at the Guyana Police Force Operations Room, Inspector Karen Kilkenny explained that most of the calls coming into the department deal with information about serious crimes, traffic congestion, disorderly behaviours, and gang fights at schools, among other reports.
The primary function of the Operations Room according to the senior officer is to receive, coordinate, and act upon information received. In addition, the Operations Room guides patrols which are responding to reports received.
Manning telephones is not the only job of ranks serving in the Operations Room this newspaper was told. While they are tasked with answering calls coming from all parts of the country, but mostly ‘A’ Division, they also have to monitor radio transmission coming through the police radio network.
One of the main challenges in dealing with the Operations Room number is the many prank calls that seem to have no end in sight, according to Inspector Kilkenny. She said based on evidence gathered, these calls are made from within the home, on the road and even in schools. Because of that, the ranks working in the department are rotated to prevent frustration.
When serious calls come into the department, those too present a challenge because there is never enough information given by the caller. It was pointed out that in most cases callers are panicking, or they just call, give information and hang up the phones.
One of the tactics of the Operations Room staff is ensuring that callers remain on the line as long as possible to gather enough information so that patrols which are to be dispatched can have precise direction to the locations.
The Police Inspector said that when callers come through to any of the numbers listed above, the first thing that they try to ascertain is if the person is calling from a mobile phone and once that is established the numbers are recorded so that call(s) can be returned if the caller is disconnected, that is, however, if the caller agrees on hearing their numbers. Sometimes the ranks would have to employ the use of the Gazetteer to aid in precise locations and those are shared with patrols en-route to the scenes.
On the issue of the contentious 911 emergency number system, Superintendent Dion Moore reminded that individuals from the highest levels in the Guyana Police Force and the Ministry of Home Affairs paid visits to the department within the Operations Room that houses the 911 numbers.
There are three phones which are dedicated to 911 emergency numbers and the police wasted no time in allowing this reporter to test the system first-hand.
I sat alongside the operator of the phones as they rang and we both answered individual phones but as was previously reported, when the phones are picked up there is no reception coming from the other end of the line. DSC_8970
This continued for about five minutes until I requested that the number be called from a mobile phone which was placed on speaker and the problem persisted. It was pointed out that there are times when calls would actually come although those are often prank calls.
According to Moore, the prank calls do very little to motivate the staff, hence the position of the Force to ensure that ranks working Operation rooms are rotated, less they become agitated.
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken told this newspaper that the Police Force is cognisant of the problems with the 911 emergency numbers and the frustration that it sometimes brings to members of the public.
He was quick to point out, however, that as part of the budget submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs to form part of that agency’s national budget proposal is the complete revamping of the Operations Room and the installation of a 911 emergency system that actually works even if it means bringing in experts from outside of Guyana.
The Operations Room operates 24/7 and is always supervised by a senior officer and duty officer; there is also gender balance in the assigning of personnel to work in the department.
While the functions of the Operations Room and the numbers dedicated to the 911 emergency is closely connected, the services provided are totally different.
The 911 calls are meant to trigger rapid response while calls to the operation rooms entail logging information coming over the radio network and other information shared with the police through the Operations Room. However, because of the issues with the 911 emergency numbers the Operations Room has doubled up on its services.
Anyone who dials the 911 number from a mobile phone will see those calls coming to the Brickdam Police Station as against those calls made to the 911 number from a land phone that will go to the Operations Room in the respective police division those landline numbers are registered to.
Therefore, if a caller from New Amsterdam uses his or her mobile phone to call the 911 number the call will come to Georgetown and once received the information would be passed on to the police in Berbice. If that same person dials the 911 number from a landline phone, then the call will go to the Central Police Station in New Amsterdam which also has an Operations Room.
By Leroy Smith

 

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