Business Plan for the new Department of Emergency Management

The 2015 Recommended Budget includes the creation of a new Department of Emergency Management. The new department is being created to bring emergency services into one consolidated management structure to improve service and collaboration with municipalities and other regional first-responder agencies. A recent blog post explored some of the issues with the County’s current structure, which you can view here.

The new department brings together four program areas with $11 million of expenditures and 65 staff positions, which is a significant undertaking. The new department would be created on January 1, 2015. Therefore, the County has created a business plan to get the new department “up and running” as quickly as possible. Click here to view the business plan.

Highlights of the plan include:

• The mission statement for the new department will be: “Milwaukee County’s integrated Office of Emergency Management stands as a leader in delivering modern services that prepare and protect the lives and properties of our communities.”
• A new Director position will be created in the October 2014 cycle of the County Board of Supervisors, so that an individual can be identified and hired prior to January 1. This will enable the department to have executive leadership in place on day one, ready to work towards the department’s mission statement.
• Fiscal and administrative staff will be centralized along with departmental leadership during 2015; however the Department of Health and Human Services will continue to provide support during the first quarter of 2015.
• A new supervisory position is created in the 911 communications/dispatch function to manage the 25 positions in that program area.

The Department of Emergency Management’s 2015 budget narrative can be found here.

Options for the Provision of Emergency Management & Communications Services

One of Milwaukee County’s primary roles is to provide public safety services. These services include handling of emergency phone calls, coordinating emergency management programs after disasters, providing a radio network for first responders, and providing coordination of and training for Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Only coordination of emergency management is mandated by State Statute. County taxpayers provide a total of $10.9 million in tax levy funding for these services, which are staffed by 60 full-time positions.

Currently, these services are all fragmented across several County departments:

1. Emergency Management services are located within the Office of the Sheriff. These services include coordination of disaster response, training, and policies and procedures, and are mandated by State Statute 323.14(1)(a)(2). For instance, this section manages an Emergency Operations Center, coordinates the County’s response to federal declarations of disasters after severe weather, and provides cross-jurisdictional training exercises related to mass-casualty responses. This section within the Office of the Sheriff includes six positions, including the County’s Emergency Management Director, one position dedicated to a federal emergency and disaster task force, and three emergency management service coordinators. Total tax levy in this section is $443,201.
2. Emergency Communications & Dispatch, also located within the Office of the Sheriff, includes the County’s mobile 911 dispatch center, and is one of the County’s Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) for mobile telephones. This section mainly receives 911 calls made by cellular telephones in municipalities other than the Cities of Milwaukee and Franklin, and those covered by the North Shore PSAP ( Bayside, Brown Deer, Fox Point, River Hills, Glendale, Shorewood & Whitefish Bay). Operators will relay calls to the correct 911 Dispatch Center, as necessary. Dispatch services are provided for Sheriff Deputies, District Attorney investigators and Medical Examiner investigators via the 800 MHz radio system. In 2013, the County entered into a contract in which the Milwaukee Police Department began automatically receiving such calls placed within city borders. This section includes 23 full-time positions, including 19 telecommunicators and three lead positions. Tax levy in this section totals $3,348,703.
3. Emergency Medical Services, located in the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) provides regional dispatch services for paramedic units utilizing the 800 MHz radio system, communications for all Froedtert and Children’s Hospital transports, immediate medical direction control, education, health information management, medical supplies, quality assurance and dispatch guidelines for the Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedic and the municipal fire department Basic Life Support (BLS) system on a contracted basis with all 19 municipalities in the County . This section has 30 full-time positions and a tax levy of $5,965,838.
4. The Radio Services section of the Department of Administrative Services Information Management Services Division (DAS-IMSD) is responsible for maintaining the County’s various radio communications systems, including the new 800 Mhz Trunked Radio System, which provides radio access for most of the County’s municipalities, and which will be replaced in cooperation with Waukesha County. This section is staffed by one full-time position.

This fragmentation of responsibility for emergency-related public safety services has led to confusion and controversy over responsibility for maintaining equipment and facilities. For instance:

• The 911 dispatch center is located in a building managed by Department of Administrative Services – Facilities Management Division, making it responsible for building and other infrastructure maintenance.
• DAS-IMSD has responsibility for equipment related to the 911 dispatch system, but both DAS-IMSD and the Sheriff have at times budgeted for its replacement.
• One of the Emergency Medical Services’ core competencies within DHHS is regional radio communication and provider relationships; however its coordination with similar services in the Office of the Sheriff is unclear and could be leveraged to provide savings and service improvements.
• The County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is operated in a Level 4 status by a Duty Officer under the Office of the Sheriff. The County Courthouse fire of July 2013 proved an urgent situation requiring the relocation resourcing of public services, a function of the County EOC. However, audible operations ensued, as this valuable resource remained dormant.

The Public Policy Form has recently studied the issue of consolidating 911 dispatch services in various parts of the County, and in 2014 the County considered but did not ultimately adopt a change in management of Emergency Management and Emergency Communications.

As the County continues to deal with significant fiscal pressures, alternative service delivery models should be considered. The following alternatives are available:

Consolidated Models – Waukesha, Brown, and Allegheny (PA) Counties

In Wisconsin Waueksha and Brown Counties have fully-consolidated Emergency Management Departments, with all of the above services located under one director who reports to the County Executive.

Waukesha County has a Department of Emergency Preparedness that includes the following service areas under the management of a Director of Emergency Preparedness:

• Countywide wireless 911 communications
• Emergency Management
• Radio Services
• Waukesha County has successfully consolidated dispatch services for 30 of the County’s 37 municipal agencies.

Brown County has a fully consolidated Emergency Management Department. The Department of Public Safety Communications provides 911 law enforcement, emergency medical dispatch services and radio communications. This consolidation occurred with the support of the Brown County Sheriff and in 2001 telecommunicators were transitioned from the Sheriff to the consolidated department. Unlike Milwaukee County, it has achieved consolidation of land-line emergency dispatch and radio services with some municipalities. Emergency Management services are a division within this department. This model is also utilized by Allegheny County, PA (Pittsburgh).

Dane County Model

Dane County provides these services in two separate departments: 911 dispatch is provided by a Department of Public Safety and Communications. Like Brown County, Dane County has achieved significant consolidation of dispatch services with dozens of municipalities, and the County’s Sheriff and Medical Examiner, which saves significant taxpayer resources. Emergency Management services, including EMS coordination, is provided in a separate Department of Emergency Management. In this model, both departments report to the County Executive.

 Discussion

There is no single best structure for emergency services. In Hennepin County, MN (Minneapolis), the Office of the Sheriff operates the 911 communications center while emergency management is a separate department and EMS services are coordinated by a local health system. In Ramsey County, MN (St. Paul), radio and 911 communications/dispatch are provided in one department while emergency management services are coordinated in another. As the County seeks to achieve savings both in its own operations and for other municipalities, it is important to consider how the structure of these various services might drive countywide efficiencies.  Questions to consider include:

• Would combining Emergency Management, Radio, and/or EMS into a single department drive efficiencies both countywide (in the form of reduced administrative staff, better coordination of contracts, etc.) and across jurisdictions? In Brown, Dane and Waukesha Counties these functions are managed by the Executive Branch of County Government. One advantage of consolidated reporting under a single elected official is the ability to create a common direction and integrated policies.
• Would combining these services make it more achievable to implement consolidation efforts with other municipalities as has happened in Brown, Dane, and Waukesha Counties? During the implementation of the new 800 Mhz Trunked Radio System, it has become clear that several municipalities will soon need to replace dispatch and other communications equipment and infrastructure. A consolidated system could save taxpayers in these municipalities significant resources through economies of scale and better pricing models.
• Consolidation of these services within one department will make it easier to create and track progress towards performance measures. Currently no one program area has total control over all operations, making performance evaluation difficult. Placing these services under one manager should improve accountability.

 

An Overview of the Office of the Milwaukee County Sheriff

There has been significant coverage of budget and policy issues related to the Office of the Milwaukee County Sheriff (Sheriff) in recent weeks. This post provides an overview of the budget and policy implications for the Sheriff.

Office Overview

Milwaukee County is one of the few fully-incorporated counties in the United States. This means the entire area of the County is covered by cities or villages that have their own police forces. Many of these police forces have their own specialized units, such as investigations, SWAT teams, and bomb squads.

This means that the Milwaukee County Sheriff is generally not the lead crime-interdiction agency in the County, as Sheriffs sometimes are in other places. In Milwaukee County, the Office of the Sheriff is required by the State of Wisconsin to provide a number of services:

• Operate a correctional facility (jail) for individuals booked by law enforcement agencies that have not yet been to a trial.
• Provide security (bailiff services) in criminal and family courtrooms for judges, juries, attorneys and the public.
• Ensure safety on the interstate system in the County, including speed and alcohol enforcement and accident response, among other duties. Milwaukee County is the only county in the state that is required to provide this service (State Statute 59.84(10)(b)); in the remaining 71 counties this is provided by the State Patrol.
• Notify individuals of actions against them or court procedures involving them through the delivery of legal documents such as summons, complaints, subpoenas, order to show cause, and writs when requested by the Courts (State Statute 59.27(4)). This can include evictions and restraining orders.
• Responsible for response to explosive ordinances, SWAT team responses, and recoveries in the County’s lakes. In Milwaukee County, the Sheriff will generally provide these services in cities that do not have their own units.

In addition to these mandated services, the Milwaukee County Sheriff is allocated funding to provide:

• Security services on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa, including at Froedtert Hospital through a contract arrangement.
• Security services in Milwaukee County Parks.
• Investigations of criminal activity in some Milwaukee County facilities.
• Cooperative law enforcement services through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program (HIDTA).
• Security services at General Mitchell International Airport.
• Emergency management (which is mandatory but not required to be provided by the Sheriff) and 911 communications services.
• Law enforcement training services.
• Resources for other cross-jurisdictional task forces.

An overview of the Sheriff’s budget is provided here. As a core function of the County, expenditures for these important services has risen substantially in recent years. Expenditures in the budget for the Office of the Sheriff rose from just under $60 million in 2004 to more than $90 million in 2011. Part of this was the result of a shift in approximately $10 million in costs for Court security into this budget in 2011; however even without that shift expenditures have risen by nearly 33 percent between 2005 and 2011 (Click chart to enlarge)

 

Due to fiscal pressures on the County in recent years, the size and composition of the Office of the Sheriff has changed significantly. For instance, The Office of the Sheriff has replaced Deputy Sheriff positions with Corrections Officers in the Milwaukee County Jail, which has saved several million dollars in operating costs; and the Park Patrol/TEU unit has been reduced as other municipal agencies have taken on more active roles on the County’s transit system and in its parks where the Sheriff has reduced its role. In addition to these efforts, the County has had to consider the service levels it provides for mandated programs, such as civil process, and changing the way services such as park patrol or emergency management are provided.

Despite these changes, the Office of the Sheriff 2014 Adopted Budget includes $66.7 million in property tax levy funding in 2014, which is 24 percent of the total tax levy budget.  The Office of the Sheriff’s tax levy funding as a percentage of the countywide budget was slightly less than 20 percent in 2005; this figure continued to rise annually until 2011, when it peaked at 27 percent of the County’s total:

 

 

2014 Innovation Fund Project Awards

The 2014 Adopted Budget included the creation of the Milwaukee County Innovation Fund. This fund will utilize one-time revenue sources for projects that are designed to improve customer service, enhance operational efficiency, and reduce taxpayer costs for services.

In 2014, the County expects to receive approximately $5.7 million in revenues related to the 2011 sale of a portion of the County Grounds to develop the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Innovation Campus. Of this amount, approximately $4.1 million is available for Innovation Fund Projects. A workgroup made up of representatives from the County Board of Supervisors, the Office of the Comptroller, and DAS-PSB make recommendations for project funding and on April 24, these recommendations were approved.

The approved projects include:

• Construction of  20 units of housing focusing on chronically homeless individuals with alcohol addictions.  The Housing Division would take referrals from Detox, corrections, courts, police, etc. and house individuals that cannot be served in existing housing or shelters due to their active use of alcohol. This funding will leverage over $2 million in other  capital funds from the City of Milwaukee, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and private funds.  A similar model in Minneapolis toured by Housing Division staff show a cost savings for taxpayers of over $500,000 per year by reducing detox admissions by 85%, emergency room visits by 20%, and jail bookings by 23%. 
• An updated jail management system utilized by the County Jail and the House of Corrections. This project will replace an outdated system that uses mainframe computer technology. This project will vastly approve the two facilities’ ability to track inmates, collect data and generate reports. It will also move the County closer to eliminating outdated and extremely expensive mainframe computer technology.
• Updated billing software for the Highways Maintenance Division of the Department of Transportation that will replace the current outdated paper-based system.
• Updated capital project management software.
• Data flow consulting and a call center upgrade in the Department of Child Support Services. Two-thirds of the cost of this project is funded with federal revenues.
• LED lighting upgrades at the Milwaukee County Zoo.
• Consulting services to develop a LEAN workgroup that will analyze County processes and make recommendations for improved efficiency.
• Core competency training for direct care staff that will provide services to individuals with co-occurring intellectual disabilities and mental illness who are being relocated to the community from Behavioral Health Division-Hilltop.
• Lighting retrofits for Lincoln Memorial Drive and tennis courts in various parks.
• Scanning equipment in the Circuit Courts to reduce the use of paper filings and increased electronic document storage.
• Electronic whiteboard units in the Acute and Children s’ Units at the Behavioral Health Division that will enhance the efficient sharing of patient information at the facility.
• Two pieces of equipment that will enhance autopsy services in the Office of the Medical Examiner.
• Funding for the Parks Amenities Matching Fund that will leverage outside revenues for park improvement projects.

The project awards include requirements that recipient departments provide informational progress reports six months after initiation of the project.

An Overview of Milwaukee County’s Public Safety Function

At the core of Milwaukee County’s mission is the promotion of Personal Safety. The County’s Public Safety Function includes two Offices and two Departments whose core duties strive to fulfill this important role.

1.  The Office of the District Attorney promotes public peace and safety by just and vigorous prosecution. 
2.  The Office of the County Sheriff is charged with providing a safe and secure environment across the County, especially within County properties 
3. The House of Correction receives and maintains custody of all sentenced inmates in Milwaukee County for periods not exceeding one year. The facility focuses on providing job training and other rehabilitative efforts to reduce recidivism.
4. The Medical Examiner is charged with investigating and determining the cause, circumstances and manner in each case of sudden, unexpected or unusual deaths.

In the 2014 Adopted Milwaukee County Budget, the Public Safety function accounts for more than 1,300 County positions (a quarter of the Countywide total), $165 million in expenditures, and $140 million in tax levy. The tax levy dedicated to this function is more than one-half of the County’s total tax levy of $279 million.

For a detailed breakdown of the funding of each of these offices, please click here to view an infographic we have prepared.

Below is an interactive Prezi presentation showing the organizational structure of the Public Safety function and it’s component units.