Public Safety Committee
January 9, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Damon Covington
City Administrator Fire Chief
Oakland Fire Department
SUBJECT: Informational Report on MACRO
Program Operations
DATE: November 22, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report On The Progress Of The City Of Oakland's Mobile Assistance Community Responders Of Oakland (“MACRO”) Program
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Under the direction of the Oakland Fire Department and the dedicated responders, the MACRO program continues to meet the community's needs with a compassionate care first response model grounded in empathy, service, and community. This informational report is an update on the current operational outcomes.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Since the adoption of City Council legislation that launched the MACRO pilot program in March 2021, the Fire Department has provided regular updates to the City Council on the progress of the City of Oakland's Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (“MACRO”) Program.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Update On MACRO Operations For September and October 2023
In September and October of 2023, the MACRO responders in the field made six hundred and sixty-nine (669) contacts with community members. Of that total, three hundred and forty-nine (349) engagements were on-view responses, meaning that a MACRO crew self-dispatched to an incident based on observed behavior, a prior incident response the crew was following, or a perceived health condition. One hundred and fifty-two (152) were initiated by community referral emails, one hundred and fifty-eight (158) from calls that came through the 911 dispatch system, and eleven (11) were initiated by an OFD dispatch request. 911 Dispatches and community Jestin Johnson (Nov 29, 2023 10:09 PST)
Nov 29, 2023
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Informational Report on MACRO Program Operations Date: November 22, 2023 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
January 9, 2024
referral emails initiated approximately 49% of all incident responses over those two months for a daily average of seven (7) requests for service.
Communications division managers from Oakland Fire and Oakland Police continue to work together to ensure that their respective dispatchers have the utmost clarity on the criteria for MACRO call types and the available hours of service so that all eligible calls are appropriately dispatched, and MACRO teams are utilized. Ongoing training and communication between dispatchers, MACRO responders, police officers, and firefighters in the field should continue to generate greater community familiarity with MACRO and potentially a higher volume of non- emergency calls being dispatched to MACRO. Additionally, the addition of a direct phone number for residents and businesses to use to contact MACRO may also increase the call volume for the program, rather than relying on calls primarily being
Tables 1 and 2 below reflect the latest available number of incidents MACRO has responded to by month, source of call, and incident type. The last column in each table also includes the total (lifetime) number of calls since the program began tracking the data in April of 2022.
Table 1 – Source of Incident: August - October and Program Lifetime Totals
Source of Incident / Call August 2023 September
2023
October 2023 Lifetime Totals
On-View (self-dispatch) 200 190 159 13530
911 Dispatch (OPD) 176 78 80 1104
Fire Communications
Request for Service (OFD)
9 9 2 76
Community Referral (Email) 94 74 78 1024
Total 479 349 320 15,734
Table 2 – Incident Types: August - October and Program Lifetime Totals
Incident Type August 2023 September
2023
October 2023 Lifetime Totals
Wellness Checks 212 131 125 10,401
Sleeper 154 140 108 3,834
Behavioral Concern 100 61 69 1,197
Public Indecency 11 3 2 93
Total 479 355 2
15,685
*Included in the total but not the graph are “other” incident types.
As the number of responses initiated by community referrals and dispatches has grown, we are seeing that the on-view (self-dispatches) have declined. MACRO has worked closely with our dispatch partners to improve operations and ensure that more calls are coming to MACRO from police dispatch, as the stats show.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Informational Report on MACRO Program Operations Date: November 22, 2023 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
January 9, 2024
All MACRO Impact Reports, are available in the documents section at the bottom of the MACRO homepage on the City website.
Staffing Update
The MACRO Community Intervention Specialists (CIS) and the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) positions were publicly posted on July 14, 2023, and closed on August 1, 2023. For the eighteen (18) available positions, we received 209 applications. - 120 for CIS
- 24 for CIS Bilingual
- 54 for EMT
- 11 for EMT Bilingual
Applicants for the CIS (Community Intervention Specialist) and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) positions were screened for eligibility, and two rounds of interviews were conducted in October 2023. The Fire Department anticipates having these positions filled by February 2024.
The actions and updates outlined in this report advance the Citywide Priorities of Holistic Community Safety and Responsive, Trustworthy Government.
Dedicated Phone Line for MACRO Calls
The Oakland Fire Department is scheduled to roll out a dedicated MACRO phone line to dispatch incoming MACRO calls in the first quarter of 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT
This item is for informational purposes only and does not have a direct fiscal impact.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures. . .
COORDINATION
No coordination with other City departments was necessary for the completion of this report.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic impacts related to this report.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Informational Report on MACRO Program Operations Date: November 22, 2023 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
January 9, 2024
Environmental: There are no environmental impacts related to this report.
Race & Equity: Over the lifetime of the program, nearly 85%% of MACRO service recipients are Black and Hispanic individuals, fulfilling the mandate set forth in Resolution 88553 by Council in 2021. The breakdown of perceived racial demographics of the total 83% BIPOC are as follows: 66% Black, 12% Latinx, 2% Asian, 1% Middle Eastern, and 1% other.
Over the lifetime of the program, approximately 92% of MACRO service recipients are unhoused, and approximately 45% of MACRO service recipients are frequent users of emergency services, having interacted with the MACRO program before.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report On The Progress Of The City Of Oakland's Mobile Assistance Community Responders Of Oakland (“MACRO”) Program
For questions regarding this report, please contact Elliott Jones, MACRO Program Manager, Oakland Fire Department, at [email protected].
Prepared by: Elliott Jones,
MACRO Program Manager &
Dena Delaviz, Data Analyst
Respectfully submitted,
Damon Covington
Interim Fire Chief