NMSP beginning consolidated region dispatching

[SCPD]

As I posted some time back and here is the news finally catching up. The larger areas will pick up the dispatching for now and if it isn't pheasable eventually down road it'll be moved to Santa Fe Control though it is not mentioned as this is a see how it goes and if it works phase keep it like this. Keep your ears open the district channels in the regional dispatch areas, microwave to the districts may be simulcast on those respective district district channels so you may hear Roswell xxx on Cruces district if they decide to utilize it. Anyhow here is the link which publicly they have addresses it. None less you will hear at least dispatch from your area if your in the regional dispatch location and in at good spot. As said there is 3 primary statewide regional dispatch centers. However the stations prior will still be able to be utilized if needed. Santa Fe Control is still around but not mentioned for some reasons.

It is unfortunate that layoffs occur, some being relocated but majority laid off in the districts who are not dispatching locally anymore. There is more then 11 and that only reflects the ones mentioned.

You will see in future a regional dispatch boundary map with the sub districts which those will be the same as now.

Las Cruces to pick up state police calls for Alamogordo, Roswell

 

[kc5igh]

If I'm following all this correctly, things could get really interesting if someone has an emergency in Roswell and can't accurately describe where they are to the dispatchers in Las Cruces. Tourists from out of state and unfamiliar with their surroundings arriving at the scene of an accident come to mind.

In the northern half of the state, reporting parties often give directions such as "I'm hearing shots being fired and people screaming up the second arroyo past the old muffler shop." Response time might become problematic if the dispatcher doesn't have some level of personal knowledge about where, exactly, all this might be happening.

 

[SCPD]

If I'm following all this correctly, things could get really interesting if someone has an emergency in Roswell and can't accurately describe where they are to the dispatchers in Las Cruces. Tourists from out of state and unfamiliar with their surroundings arriving at the scene of an accident come to mind.

In the northern half of the state, reporting parties often give directions such as "I'm hearing shots being fired and people screaming up the second arroyo past the old muffler shop." Response time might become problematic if the dispatcher doesn't have some level of personal knowledge about where, exactly, all this might be happening.

This is a problem no matter how large of an area a dispatch center covers. The present district dispatchers don't have a photographic memory of their district as it is. The officers in the field do as they are out on the roads continuously, but dispatchers are not. So for example, a dispatcher in Socorro may not have driven from the U.S. 180/NM 12 junction to the Arizona state line through Luna in the last 5 years. They may not have ever driven that stretch of road in their life. That dispatcher probably remembers I-25 between Socorro and Albuquerque very well due to traveling it for shopping several times a year, but to have current knowledge of the highways near the Arizona state line is not possible.

Dispatch positions have far more turnover than officer positions so a dispatcher may not know the area they dispatch for very well at all. GPS and Google Earth are becoming more important important in dispatching, in which case it really doesn't matter how large the area a center covers.

Good dispatching relies on very accurate/precise passing of information. So in the case of your example "I'm hearing shots being fired and people screaming up the second arroyo past the old muffler shop," the important task of the dispatcher is to relay exactly that to the responding officer, who is very familiar with the area described. That officer will have a clear mental picture of the second arroyo past the old muffler shop. District 11 of the NMSP covers greater than 10 million acres, too large for the multiple dispatchers working that district's dispatch center to know. What is the difference if the area they don't know is expanded from 10 million to 30 million acres?

I'm retired from the National Park Service and know that it make take 10 years to have extensive and intensive knowledge of a large national park, such as Yellowstone, Glacier or Sequoia-Kings Canyon. Given transfers and job changes often times employees were dispatched to areas where the park visitor calling in a situation may have visited the location multiple times and the employee has never been there before. I'm speaking primarily of backcountry areas, but if the employee has transferred in during the last year or two this may be true of roaded or "frontcountry" locations as well. To expect dispatchers to know that location as well as the visitor is unrealistic. I transferred around a bit and it took me a couple of years to have a good working understanding of a large park. We often relied on employees who had lived near the park all of their lives and had never worked in any other national park to figure out the location of what a visitor was describing in a phone call to the dispatcher.

 

[kc5igh]

Good points, Kendrick, but I will continue to maintain that smaller operational units with higher levels of regional knowledge on the part of staff are preferable for emergency response purposes.

 

[SCPD]

You will notice more repeated traffic with the single duplex dispatch end. Units will still be microwaved. One complaint however from officers already is the lag in reply from Las cruces when radioing in, the microwave to repeater as well as volume. Also repeater access code has begun to be used since dispatch will not only be microwaved but the repeaters left on in the key locations they reside on the mountain tops. Many will notice soon if not already. A unit will call his district then the dispatch will reply las cruces every time or your respective district regional dispatch center. Another complaint that's coming in is the towing companies on rotation. Where local offices would have a rotation this is no more. They'll call the first one that cad pulls up out of cruces for that area noted for 24 7 service. The uhf pacs are also a issue right now that's being reported.

I should mention the many who came in and requested, obtained local Portables on vhf repeated channels for use on local channels as they do not feel comfortable at the moment having to continually radio las cruces on the pacs with no response. So keep your ear on your local channels. Another issue is local dispatch use to scan local channels and relay if a local was in pursuit or needed assistance. Now the unit himself must monitor this or catch wind on car, or the local channel. Such as a accident reported by the sheriff, then the sp dispatch locally would relay to a unit on the duplex on county line near him of a 45. Since he's out of the local county repeater range he would relie on that. It'll be interesting. You'll see vhf repeaters down road pop and or eventually they'll decide at the castle 700mhz to fix the problems that are popping up. Mark my words.

 

[ShyFlyer]

When I was down there for Christmas, I did notice some traffic out of Raton being repeated. I've noticed this happen occasionally over the last couple of years, though.

Las Vegas, Raton, Albuquerque, and Gallup all sounded the same as always.

 

[Hooligan]

What's the fielding of the mobile satellite service terminals like these days for NMSP?

 

[SCPD]

What's the fielding of the mobile satellite service terminals like these days for NMSP?

In use. Low profile antennas overtime have been switched out from the domes. The cad is heavily used to date where and when applicable.

 

[SCPD]

When I was down there for Christmas, I did notice some traffic out of Raton being repeated. I've noticed this happen occasionally over the last couple of years, though.

Las Vegas, Raton, Albuquerque, and Gallup all sounded the same as always.

Majority of areas do have repeaters. While it is up to the dispatch or Santa Fe Control what is turned on and why is up to the dispatcher unless a unit switched to local for any reason he/she felt.

In reality the mobile in one zone fits all districts and few other channels state uses. The unit has a option to use "local" district or district capability. Local being reference to as repeated, no reference to "on local" is normal microwaved which a district typically runs on.

Using repeater access codes the unit can switch to the second zone or if capable with a press of a button use the duplex in repeated on local then switch back to normal duplex. When one refers to the repeaters being turned off they are meaning in a stand by mode and when dispatch keys in on or a unit with the proper repeater access code keys in it repeats. The console will tell the dispatcher what the traffic is coming in on as well aa the unit has abilit to identify if traffic is coming over the duplex, or repeated. Thus you will hear them refer to "on local" one minute and the next the unit will be or won't be. Since the repeaters are on the highest hill tops or fixed locations, they are not everywhere but if they exist many do not hesitate to utilize them for various reasons and the repeaters are not gracious in distance which they are used for local. Microwaved is used for the long distance.

In larger cities you probably won't hear local "repeated" traffic much or at all. You have city pd, sheriff etc. Go to a area where SP does the primary policing or aides in local policing daily duties you'll most likely hear the repeated traffic more but it does not mean no microwaved traffic is occuring.

The unit has option to just monitor dispatch if he/she choses only hearing what is relevant to him/her. If it's important the dispatcher will relay over dispatch anything relevant. Most however monitor both ends of the channels.

Hobbs does have talkgroups for SP and SP units do use them. None have noted it as Lea County runs full encryption on anything law enforcement related on its trs.

Cruces and Albuquerque have a edacs talkgroup or two for SP but why use it when you don't need it.

The primary radio is the state radio. Second radio is local entities. Some may have 3 mobiles. It depends what is required and if the officer/district wanted it for a specific reason in which his duties would require him needing it in the car. In hobbs case the state use to use a vhf Lea county LEN channel that was patched on and off to the trs. Since they went secure going p25 the SP units had the trs radios installed in them in that district. Same scenerio applies elsewhere if needed.