In hindsight, these incidents might come off as nothing more than humorous anecdotes. The problem, though, is they’re peppered in with calls that require large amounts of emergency resources — everything from thefts and assaults to fatal traffic crashes.
“Our call loads are increasing exponentially,” said Greeley Fire Chief Dale Lyman. “Culturally, in general, people are calling 911 for things they wouldn’t have dreamed of calling for 20 years ago.”
Lyman and Garner both said they want residents to call 911 when things seem wrong. They both emphasized their agencies want to help people, and they will respond when a call is placed.
But there’s no arguing the fact the number of 911 calls has gone up in recent years. According to a presentation Lyman gave at a Nov. 22 Greeley City Council meeting, calls to the Greeley Fire Department increased 8 percent in the first half of 2016, and calls to the Greeley Police Department were up 13 percent in the same time frame.
The Greeley police and fire departments are working with the Weld County Regional Communications Center on how best to handle the calls, which have gone up by 16 percent overall in the past three years, according to Mike Wallace, the director of public safety communications in Weld County. The agencies are already studying the problem and putting a few plans into action.
Garner, Lyman and Wallace all suspect the rise in cell phone use might be contributing to the 911 volume. Residents have the capability to call emergency services on their person. Lyman also pointed out public safety agencies have been educating generations of people to call 911 when things don’t feel right, and that’s a good thing. But it does add to the number of calls first responders receive.
“(This is) something that is out there, countywide,” Wallace said. “We’re trying to help (first responders) as well, since we’re the front end. We’re trying to see how they want us to handle their calls, and what kinds of questions we can be asking.”
Wallace said the Regional Communications Advisory Board will discuss those new protocols at its next meeting.
An increase in calls can tie up emergency resources and make it harder for first responders to do their jobs effectively. It’s not cheap, either.
“It’s the taxpayer that’s losing the most in the end,” Garner said. “The whole idea of not wasting police resources is to help save the taxpayer money.”
The solutions are going to have to be as multifaceted as the problem itself, though.
When Lyman talks about changing to adapt to the times, he often compares the fire department to Blockbuster Video.
“There are no video stores anymore,” Lyman said. “But people still want movies. It’s just how they want them that changed. So it’s time we need to look at that and find a model that’s more fiscally responsible.”
For example, traditionally when the fire department runs calls, it sends out a full-sized engine. Lyman, who has worked in fire for 30 years, said that has been the status quo for his entire career. But fueling the engine costs money, and it’s not needed for every call.
That’s why the fire department is experimenting with the “action lab.” It’s a Chevrolet Suburban the fire department owns, and it’s staffed by one of the department’s paramedics, as well as a Weld County mental health specialist. If the call does not sound like it will require a large response from the department, the Suburban is deployed with the engine. If the situation proves to be something the mental health official and the paramedic can handle, they stay on the scene. The engine leaves, and is free to answer other calls.
The model is only being used twice a week at certain times of day. But, Lyman said, it has already met with success.
“In the two days (we’ve used it), we’ve already helped connect citizens with mental health resources,” Lyman said.
The experiment also aims to reach out to “frequent fliers.” These are people who call 911 often for a variety of reasons. Lyman said the department identified their 100 most frequent 911 callers who accounted for as many as 1,000 calls a year.
“Sometimes there are mental health issues,” Lyman said. “Sometimes they need help connecting to social services, or they don’t have access to primary (medical) care. A lot of this is educational.”
Garner said the police department also is making some changes to handle the increase in calls. For example, the police department has an on-call supervisor who evaluates whether a given call merits an in-person response from the department. They’re also trying out alternative forms of reporting.
“We’re trying to do more online reporting and telephone reporting, where a caller could get advice over the phone without us sending an officer to their house,” Garner said.
The police department also is putting together a team of officers dedicated to homeless and transient issues, especially in the downtown area. Garner said the department often deals with this population, and those calls usually require more than two officers, because mental illness and intoxication are commonplace.
“If we can be proactive in handling these issues, we won’t be getting as many calls,” Garner said.
To that end, the Greeley City Council this fall authorized the department to hire three new police officers. They are scheduled to start in January. Garner believes this, in the long run, also will help save taxpayer money.
It’s part of the line emergency services officials must walk between ensuring they are adequately prepared and still spending thriftily.
“It’s not that we don’t want to respond,” Lyman said, “We just want to respond appropriately.”
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©2016 the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.)
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