An analysis looked for ways to get calls answered faster and reduce burnout at Tulsa’s 911 center.
Oral Roberts University students participating in the City of Tulsa's Urban Data Pioneers, a program meant to boost the use of data in policy decisions, looked at two years of calls to see when people call the most and whether staffing can be tweaked to help hit answering time targets.
Their first recommendation is for the city to spend more on hiring, training and paying call takers.
The second recommendation was to put more call takers on duty between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and during periods of severe weather. Tulsa Police Deputy Chief Dennis Larsen said the 911 center is currently down 19 people, so that’s easier said than done for now.
"But sometimes we know it’s going to be in the evening, and we have a relatively high expectation that we will have bad weather, we may be able to make some adjustments that make those calls come in and that time flow a little bit smoother," Larsen said.
Another recommendation is to encourage call takers to take vacation in months call volumes are lower. The analysis also found a lot of people call 911 for all kinds of things that aren’t emergencies. Larsen said that is a problem.
"We do deal with a lot of, 'Can you tell us who won the OU-OSU game?' or 'Can you tell us what time the event at BOK starts tonight?' and that’s not really a 911 issue," Larsen said.
The Urban Data Pioneers recommend an education campaign to teach Tulsans when to call the non-emergency number, 918-596-9222.
ORU History, Humanities, and Government Chair Dr. Doctor Curtis Ellis led the group of students analyzing the call data and said making call takers’ jobs easier will go a long way in improving outcomes at the 911 center.
"It’s a high-stress position, and so to provide the call takers with the support that they need not just staff but also in benefits or auxiliary services would be important as well," Ellis said.
Ellis said the group wants to continue its analysis by using the university's Titan supercomputer to determine average handling times from pickup to officers being dispatched for each type of call the 911 center receives.
