Animal Control Officers Embrace Portable Computers

/

Every day, County animal control officers help the region’s four-legged and winged creatures in all kinds of ways: rescuing panting dogs left in hot cars, citing owners whose animals have gotten loose and maybe bitten someone, picking up vulnerable strays and attempting to reunite them with their owners. The list goes on.

The duties are surprisingly diverse, but they have one thing in common: they happen in the field, not behind a desk. But until recently, the officers had to return to the County shelter each day, sometimes for hours before going off duty, to enter their reports into a computer.

Now, most County animal control officers have a portable laptop that frees them to work in the field longer each day handling more calls.  The use of technology is part of a Countywide focus: Government without Walls—or GWOW—which encourages departments, when it makes sense, to adopt technology and non-traditional schedules and work environments to help staff be more mobile, efficient and effective. Currently a variety of County inspectors, Public Health nurses and Public Guardian investigators are also part of the movement, using computers, wireless internet and other technology to better serve the public in the field.

“I’m on cloud nine with the fact that I have the computer right now,” said Animal Control Officer Shalimar Oliver, who recently demonstrated how she used her compact Panasonic Toughbook in the center console of her kennel truck.

Working without walls

  During one of Oliver’s January shifts, a woman called Animal Services complaining that someone was leaving his dog in a truck all day at a Mira Mesa business park. The dispatcher who answered the phone entered a description and address into the computer system; Oliver could see the information on her screen. 

Previously, the dispatcher would have relayed the call over the radio. The officer would have had to scribble the details on a notepad, asking the dispatcher to repeat anything she’d missed.

This practice was sometimes inaccurate and always time consuming. The use of laptops has also freed the single dispatcher who answers the Animal Services patrol line for the whole region. When she is on the radio with officers, the public waits on hold. Now there are fewer hang ups and therefore more animals getting help.

And officers no longer must wait for the busy dispatcher to contact them on the radio to help an animal.  Now officers can see a call on the computer and go. The time saved could mean the difference between life and death if, for example, the call is for an animal that’s been hit by a car.

At the Mira Mesa business park, Oliver pulled her white truck alongside the pickup truck. No animal inside this time.

So Oliver parked for a couple minutes and noted the case’s conclusion in her computer. She radioed the dispatcher too, saying little more than, “10-98,” meaning this assignment was done.

“We used to have to tell the dispatcher what the outcome of the call was,” said Oliver. The dispatcher then entered the details into her computer. If the case was complicated, this could be a long conversation, again tying up the dispatcher and officer. 

After finishing the quick Mira Mesa case, Oliver had a rare lull with no assigned call. So she looked at her computer screen, which showed what other animal control officers were doing and whether they had pending assignments stacked up. Indeed, a busy officer had a waiting assignment to check on a report of cats with open sores in a Bay Park neighborhood.

Oliver was on it. These days, if a fellow officer is busy, Oliver uses the computer interface to easily transfer a waiting call to her own assignment list. Again, animals and the public get help faster.    

 Early success

Animal Services Lt. Dan DeSousa said all officers at the shelters in Bonita and San Diego have the laptops, and staff in North County will get them soon. He said officers, like Oliver, are reporting many benefits from the technology, and the program shows that in some cases, it just doesn’t make sense to work within walls.

“The thing is, why not?”  DeSousa said. “If you can do this work better out in the field, why do you have to come back to the office?”

 

 

Read more about how GWOW benefits County animal control officers:

 Customer Service and Animal Welfare: These days, when Oliver comes across a stray dog with a collar or microchip, she can look up the pet’s license information in the field, and maybe reunite the animal with an owner immediately. That keeps the dog out of the crowded shelter.

 Investigations: Oliver and other County animal control officers investigate criminal animal cruelty or neglect cases. After a witness interview, Oliver now immediately makes a detailed account of the conversation in her vehicle’s computer. This timely record helps win prosecutions. 

Officer Safety: Recently, Oliver’s fellow officer radioed for help with an aggressive dog. Oliver said she used her computer to see her colleague’s location, and the nature of the call. Before the busy dispatcher could send anyone, Oliver was on her way. Officers can also use the computer to research the history on any address to see if there have been problems with animals or owners there in the past.

Enforcement: Oliver said she recently had to cite a woman who’d let her dog run loose and bite someone. But the woman was avoiding Oliver, so the officer used her computer to do some internet research. Facebook revealed where the woman worked, and Oliver cited her there.

Public Presence: When people see an animal control truck, they’re more apt to follow laws, such as keeping dogs on leashes. So keeping officers in the field, even if they’re parked and writing reports, increases public safety.   

 

 

 

 



Local Boy Scouts Help Ready New Ramona Library

/

Boy Scout Scotty Barber and his fellow Scouts are working hard to make sure Old Glory is flying in front of the new Ramona Library when it opens next month.

Scotty’s Eagle Scout project is to install the flagpole in front of the new Main Street library. The nearly 21,000 square-foot community center is almost ready to welcome patrons, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for Feb. 15.

 With that deadline approaching, Scotty and other Scouts from Ramona Troop 130 devoted Saturday to constructing the flagpole’s base. They dug into the ground, shaped a form for the foundation and reinforced it, then poured and finished the concrete. The Scouts plan to return Saturday, Jan. 15, to set the flagpole.

Quick Thinking HHSA Employees Protect Child From Harm

/

Quick action by Human Service Specialist Veasna Ngan, left, and Protective Social Worker Brian Piepenbrink ensured the safe return of a child from Washington whose parents were fleeing authorities there and were suspected of abusing him.

On November 2nd, Veasna Ngan, a Human Service Specialist from the Central Region Cal Works General Task Group, was processing a referral for Food Stamps for a family who had just relocated to San Diego from Washington State. The family consisted of two parents and their 18 month old son. Like many families who come to the FRC for assistance, this family was in need of housing support and food stamps. After the HOT team assisted the family with temporary shelter, Ngan began processing their application for food stamps.

Following protocol, Ngan first called Washington State to ensure that the family was not receiving other government assistance. In doing so, he came across information that the couple’s child was registered in as a missing child. Because the Cal Works General Task Group and Child Welfare Services (CWS) are located together, Ngan was able to immediately contact CWS Supervisor Jaime Pineda for assistance. Upon further research, CWS learned that the Washington  Juvenile Court had issued a pick up and detain order for the child due to abuse and neglect; however, the parents had fled with him and CWS in Washington had lost contact with the family.

Thanks to the quick thinking by Ngan and collaboration with Protective Service Worker Brian Piepenbrink, the child was located and taken into protective custody within 24 hours. He was safely returned to Washington after spending the night at Polinsky Children’s Center. The child welfare worker in Washington was relieved to see the child and said “You don’t know how worried I’ve been about this little guy and how relieved I am to know that he’s okay.”

Computer and Technology Training for Older Adults

/

Don’t let those technology gifts you received from well-meaning younger relatives stay in boxes this year:  pull them out, plug them in and tune in to a computer class or other technology training programs available for older adults.  Once you become familiar with some of these products, you’ll see how they can make your life easier and more enjoyable. 

The new Technology & Aging Coalition of San Diego County can help you learn where to go for classes. The web site – www.AgeTechSD.org -- provides a listing of many technology education options that are available. There is also a list of computer clubs for older adults.

If you know of other great learning opportunities that you would like added to the list, be sure to let us know and we’ll include those on the list.

The goal of the Technology & Aging Coalition is to encourage older adults to explore the many technology products and services available to them. The group was formed after the County’s Aging Summit on Technology last June and is working to increase technology education as well as work with technology developers to create products with the older adult in mind.

The coalition’s steering committee includes representatives from the County’s Health & Human Services Agency, the San Diego Futures Foundation, San Diego Continuing Education, AARP, Access to Independence and Aldea Communications, a consulting business on technology products for older adults.

For more information about the Technology & Aging Coalition of San Diego County and to see listings of classes and computer clubs, visit www.AgeTechSD.org, and look under “Resources.”