The Orleans Parish Communication District
became operational on May 1, 1984, after four
years of research and planning. It was a
coordinated effort between local government and
the private sector participated in by OPCD, NOPD,
NOFD, the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice
Coordination (OCJC), and South Central
Bell.
Once House Bill 856 was signed into
law by Governor David Treen as Act 155 in August
1982, providing that the governing authority of
the Orleans Parish Communication District would be
a nine-member Board of Commissioners comprised of
the following officials: Superintendent of the New
Orleans Police and Fire Departments, Director of
New Orleans Health Department, Director of the
Office of Civil Defense (now Emergency
Preparedness), CEO, Medical Center of Louisiana in
New Orleans, Commander of Troop B, National Guard,
Louisiana State Police, Commandant, Louisiana Army
Jackson Barracks Unit, and two at-large members.
The OPCD Board of Commissioners was activated in
August 1982, and since its inception, has had five
individuals to hold the position of Board
Chairman, and three to hold the position of
Vice-Chairman. Stuart Carroll, who was the Mayor's
Deputy Assistant for Criminal Justice at the
Office of Criminal Justice Coordination became
OPCD's first Executive Director. He held that
position from 1988 until his untimely death in
1997. William Hawkins is the current
director.
Our objective over 20 years has been and
continues to be a commitment to provide the
citizens of the City of New Orleans with the most
efficiently trained telecommunicators and the
technologically advanced means to communicate
their need for emergency services to the agencies
who respond.
The creation of OPCD and the subsequent
creation of 9-1-1 Districts around the state was
the culmination of effort by the public safety
community to provide a single, simple, universal
dialing procedure for citizens to use to contact
emergency services. The passage of Act 155 by the
1982 Louisiana Legislature created the Orleans
Parish Communication District "to establish and
maintain the 9-1-1 emergency telephone number for
the Parish of Orleans."
Since 1982 OPCD has provided telecommunications
equipment, mainframe and workstation computers,
and related infrastructure to NOPD, NOFD, and EMS
communications, and continues to upgrade equipment
to insure that we have the latest technology to
receive and dispatch emergency 9-1-1 calls. We
have worked with BellSouth Telecommunications to
upgrade the telephone company switching equipment
and related facilities to increase the efficiency,
capacity and speed of moving calls from a home or
business to the 9-1-1 call center. OPCD also works
to continuously keep current the database of
telephone numbers and locations of every telephone
in New Orleans, keeping pace with citizens who
change their residence or telephone numbers. This
database is crucial in automatically providing us
with the location and telephone call back number
of anyone who dials 9-1-1. OPCD has worked with
the city and emergency departments to interface
the 9-1-1 system computers to other non 9-1-1
systems such as Mobile Data Computers in police
cars and Records Management Computers in fire
stations to help provide service responders with
real time incident and premise information. OPCD
engineers further provide logistical support
coordinating efforts to improve and maintain these
many complex systems.
The ever changing world of technology places an
important emphasis on the need to insure that
personnel are trained and retrained to maintain
their precision effectiveness in using all of
these systems to their maximum potential. OPCD has
taken an aggressive stance in promoting the
training of call takers and dispatchers to enhance
their proficiency. Public information is also an
area of focus in our education outreach. Our
education staff disseminates information on when
and how to use the 9-1-1 system to schools, civic
and community groups. The Annual 9-1-1 Poster
Contest and the "Red Page" are two well known
success stories of this public information
effort.
There are several new technologies that OPCD is
working with to further improve the 9-1-1 system
specifically, and public safety generally. These
include working with telephone carriers to
pinpoint the location of a wireless caller dialing
9-1-1. Also OPCD is working with a number of
agencies to procure an automated vehicle location
system to plot the location of response vehicles.
These two technologies coupled with the enhanced
layered mapping project OPCD is developing with
the city will allow 9-1-1 dispatchers to be able
to view a dynamic map that shows the location of a
9-1-1 caller and of the available response
vehicles. Cont. next page
These maps will ultimately be updated with
information on street construction, traffic flow,
and other information vital to directing a rapid
response. The dispatcher will be able to give
instructions to responders as to the fastest route
to the scene of the emergency.
In another innovative technology, OPCD is
working to provide the city with a "Reverse 9-1-1"
system that will allow emergency personnel to
automatically telephone citizens in designated
areas with important recorded public safety and
community information. The system will be usable
for all types of purposes from directing
evacuations in the event of hazardous material
spills to notifying residents of planned public
utility outages.
OPCD's staff of eight people work with and
support 176 call takers, dispatchers, supervisors
and administrative staff working in the 9-1-1
call centers at police, fire and EMS. As a direct
result of these coordinated efforts, New Orleans
has one of the most technologically advanced and
functionally efficient 9-1-1 systems in the world.
Although the New Orleans' 9-1-1 centers handle
over 1.1 million calls per year, the average 9-1-1
call is answered prior to the telephone actually
ringing. OPCD has significantly assisted in the
growth and development of 9-1-1 in the state of
Louisiana. We have witnessed the growth of the
personnel, equipment and teamwork with public
safety agencies. This achievement will thereby
decrease response time, improve effectiveness, and
thus save lives. and property.
OPCD's major project for 2002-2003 will be the
construction of a communications facility to house
the 9-1-1 call taking and dispatching personnel of
the city's police, fire and EMS departments.
This new facility will combine state of the art
equipment and work areas in a secure environment
to insure that emergency communications will
continue to function even in the event of natural
disaster or in light of current events, any
intentional acts.
Numerous other enhancements and improvements to
the system are in progress or on the drawing
board. By its very nature, communication and
information technology continues to rapidly
advance. The OPCD Board and staff remain committed
to keep pace with these advances to insure that
New Orleans has one of the best public safety
communications systems in the world.
