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City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: City Auditor
Meeting Date: October 7, 2024
Report #:2409-3462
TITLE
Approve Task Order 4.28 Dispatch Center Assessment as Recommended by the Policy & Services Committee; Direct Additional Dispatch Center Work Discussed by Policy & Services Committee Members be Considered When Reviewing the Proposed FY25 Audit Plan; and Grant Authority to the City Manager to Execute any Necessary Privacy-Related Agreements to Implement this Audit; CEQA status – not a project.
RECOMMENDATION
1) The Policy & Services Committee and Office of the City Auditor recommends City Council approve Task Order 4.28 Dispatch Center Assessment (Appendix A). The Dispatch Center Assessment will take the place of Task Order 4.21 Purchasing Card Audit which will be deferred to the FY25 Audit Plan.
2) Staff recommend allowing the City Manager to execute any privacy-related agreements with the Auditor/Baker Tilly necessary for the Auditor to carry out Task Order 4.28. These agreements are necessary under law to ensure that protected data, such as medical data, remains private under federal and state laws and is only used for the specific purposes of this audit. These agreements do not change the scope or cost of the audit.
Note: Policy & Services Committee members requested a proposal be submitted for additional work related to the Dispatch Center Assessment (Appendix B). After researching this request, the City Auditor recommends that an assessment of customer satisfaction be conducted in relation to all police services and not just dispatch center services and be included as part of the FY25 Audit Plan discussion scheduled for later this calendar year.
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ANALYSIS
The Policy and Services Committee unanimously approved the task order for an assessment of the Dispatch Center Assessment that can be found here: Staff Report #2407-33041 In addition, during the discussion, Policy & Services Committee members requested the Auditor’s Office develop a proposal for augmenting the Dispatch Center Assessment scope of work to include a customer satisfaction survey. As the primary objective of the Dispatch Center Assessment is to evaluate dispatch center operations including staffing levels, call processing, dispatching, and training, the City Auditor recommends City Council consider Council Member Tanaka’s request for a customer satisfaction survey of dispatch services, forwarded by the Policy & Services Committee, to be discussed as part of the FY25 Audit Plan rather than adding a customer satisfaction survey to the Dispatch Center Assessment.
In developing a scope of work for a customer satisfaction survey of dispatch services, the City Auditor considered several factors. Customer satisfaction surveys provide valuable feedback to organizations about the services or products they provide. Key elements of a successful survey are 1) defining the objectives of the survey; 2) choosing they type of survey to administer; 3) appropriately designing the survey which includes defining an adequate sample size, response rate, and questions; 4) deciding on a method of disseminating the survey to solicit the greatest feedback; and 5) analyzing the results.
Of particular challenge in surveying customers of dispatch services is the nature of the services being provided, the inability to survey recipients at the time of receiving services as it would be inappropriate to do so, and the difficulty of soliciting responses from the target population. In addition, since dispatch services are provided in response to emergency situations, defining what constitutes good customer service is key and may include such factors as providing service that is expedient, efficiently dispatching the call to the appropriate emergency response agency (fire, police, EMS), providing accurate information to emergency response personnel and others.
However, many of these metrics are not necessarily known or easily identified by the caller who is often in the midst of the crisis.
The City Auditor consulted with the Palo Alto Police Department on whether the Department currently assesses customer satisfaction with dispatch services and whether such assessments are a common industry practice. The Palo Alto Police Department does not currently conduct a customer satisfaction survey but does audit dispatch calls to ensure they meet industry requirements and for training purposes. This review process will be evaluated as part of the Dispatch Center Assessment.
The City Auditor also asked the Police Department for information regarding industry practice with regard to surveying dispatch customer service. The Police Department polled the Santa Clara County Police Chief’s Association regarding the use of customer satisfaction surveys and received 1 Policy & Services Committee Meeting, August 23, 2024, Staff Report #2407-3304, Staff Report 2407-3304 (laserfiche.com)
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responses from over half of the group. Of the seven responding agencies, no agency explicitly solicits feedback on dispatch center services.
Given the inherent challenges of conducting a customer satisfaction survey specific to dispatch center services and that it appears this type of survey is not typically conducted, the City Auditor recommends should the City Council wish to consider customer satisfaction, that it consider a customer satisfaction survey as part of a larger audit of police and/or public safety services and community engagement. This audit topic can be included in the FY25 Audit Plan for Council’s consideration and approval later this fall.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
A proposed scope of work for a customer satisfaction survey of dispatch center services is included in Appendix A. The proposed cost of the survey is $25,000.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is not a project as defined by CEQA because the audit activities are a continuing administrative activity that does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment. CEQA Guidelines sections 15378(b)(2) and (4).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Task Order 4.28 Dispatch Center Assessment Attachment B: Dispatch Center Customer Satisfaction Survey Scope of Work APPROVED BY:
Kate Murdock, City Auditor