DC 911 Makes 'Minimal Progress' Fixing Problems: Auditor

Washington, D.C.’s, 911 center did little in response to recommendations in an October audit that found the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) failed in many months to meet national standards for getting timely help to callers, said a follow-up report Friday. Of 31 recommendations, OUC completed one, made “minimal progress” on 24, and “no observed progress” on two, said the Office of D.C. Auditor (ODCA): OUC still faces issues identified in the original audit, “including call-taking confusion, glitches in dispatch operations, and insufficient management follow-up on after-action reviews.”

“There is no more important government service than responding to medical emergencies,” said District of Columbia auditor Kathy Patterson. “And we are failing to meet the needs of District residents.”

D.C.’s 911 center “made continued strides since my return, which was shortly before the follow up assessment concluded, and I look forward to meeting with the audit team later this month to share my team's progress,” responded acting Director Karima Holmes in a Sept. 2 letter to Patterson. Holmes reviewed the audit and began writing an improvement road map immediately upon her reappointment by Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) to the position she held from 2015-2021 (see 2202240057), wrote Holmes. Since then, Holmes added subject-matter experts to her executive leadership team and they “began to tackle the task list I developed to address the findings and recommendations in the report.” OUC Chief of Staff Kelly Brown referred us on Friday to the Sept. 2 letter and the agency’s 911 operations road map.

The D.C. Council Public Safety Committee plans a virtual hearing Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. on OUC’s 911 operations, Chair Charles Allen (D) said Thursday on Twitter. The roundtable will cover the audit and “focus specifically on OUC’s 9-1-1 call-taking and dispatching, including by examining several recent calls in depth.” Allen is reviewing the follow-up report, Deputy Chief of Staff Erik Salmi said Friday. The Council can’t hold a confirmation hearing for Holmes until Bowser formally nominates her, he said. Bowser didn’t comment Friday.

“Recent changes to the OUC management team, including the return of the former Director to serve as Acting Director as well as the hiring of a new Chief of 9-1-1 Operations, have been viewed as positive changes by the front-line staff,” the ODCA report said. “As stated in the initial Audit report, the issues that continue to challenge OUC call-taking and dispatch operations are rooted in established processes and habits that will need to be changed to improve service to citizens and responders serviced by the Agency. While we see indications of effort and movement within some areas, there has been minimal overall progress” responding to recommendations.

OUC completed one recommendation, said the report: “An additional monitor specifically intended to display the RapidSOS technology has been added to each call-taking console.” But auditors found “minimal progress” on many other recommendations, including to take steps to better assign correct priority levels to calls, streamline call entry data in the dispatch system, reduce improvising by call takers, add an automated dispatch function, increase supervision on the floor and better enforce policies to ensure inappropriate behavior isn’t repeated, ODCA said.

Auditors observed no progress on a recommendation to determine if additional applications could “augment or replace translation services to provide necessary additional certified bilingual call-takers,” said the report: They also saw no progress on a recommendation to expand training and development of supervisors on leadership and soft skills.

Patterson requested the follow-up earlier this year, with Friday’s report being the first of two planned by public safety consultants Federal Engineering (see 2203280027). The second report, to be published later this year, will include “data analysis for specific recommendations and … a sampling of 911 historical data, 911 recordings, computer-assisted-aided dispatch (CAD) history and voice recorder data for radio dispatches, along with an evaluation of in-progress plans and future plans to implement the recommendations outlined in the initial report,” Patterson wrote in a cover letter to Bowser and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D). It will also evaluate July 3 and Aug. 9 incidents in which two young District residents lost their lives, she said.

Friday’s report is “deeply disappointing" but "not surprising,” 4B01 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Evan Yeats told us. OUC’s tone changed for the worse as soon as Holmes returned, he said. “It feels like we’re moving backwards very rapidly.” Holmes has had six months since returning to make progress, said Yeats, applauding Patterson for continuing to press. Yeats urged the D.C. Council to quickly hold a confirmation hearing for Holmes so concerns can be aired. Previous D.C. Council chairs “have put their foot down and said people can’t serve in unconfirmed capacities past the legal limits, regardless of whether or not the mayor has transmitted their nomination,” said Yeats: Mendelson should do the same, “especially when it’s a matter of life or death” like with 911.

The report also didn’t surprise Dave Statter, a former journalist who regularly blogs and tweets about OUC issues. “There have been four deaths in six months this year where there were response delays caused by 911,” he emailed. “Some of the problems from 2019 and 2020, like failing to answer emergency radio traffic for minutes at a time, have re-emerged.” Statter believes Bowser hasn’t formally renominated Holmes because at least four council members have raised concerns about her, he said.