911 operators roll out north-end Longboat map

The dispatch center for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has new way to communicate with first responders in the field to help them respond quicker to calls on the beaches and waters around the north end of Longboat Key. 

Starting on July 13, the dispatch center began categorizing Greer Island and Jewfish Key into eight different sectors instead of trying to direct officers to individual points in the entire area. 

Longboat Key Capt. Bob Bourque wrote a memo to interim Police Chief George Turner and Deputy Police Chief Frank Rubino explaining the new process.

“When a caller contacts police dispatch and reports an incident at Greer Island or Jewfish Key, a sector map will automatically populate once the dispatcher (call-taker) enters either Greer Island or Jewfish Key into their database,” Bourque wrote. “The caller can then describe the problem and provide the corresponding sector number, which will be sent to the radio dispatcher who will also be viewing the sector map.

“The radio dispatcher will dispatch the call and provide the responding officer(s) with both the location and the sector number.”

A dispatcher will typically ask a caller for the specific intersection of the incident.

The goal of the new sectors is to provide callers a reliable way to report incidents, and to direct officers to the location as efficiently as possible. 

Before the new changes took effect, Lands End Drive resident Pat Beavers described a June 24 incident in the water behind his home when a storm was approaching a vessel in distress. 

“They were in a little boat, and the motor was dead,'' Beavers said. "They had no life jackets or anything, so I called the police.

“It went to Sarasota [County]. They kept asking for a cross street, and I’m telling them, ‘I can’t give you one. These people are out on the water out on Longboat Pass.’ And, it took an hour to figure it out.”

A Longboat Key police officer finally arrived at Beavers’ home.

“I finally walked him out on my dock to where the people were,” Beavers said.

Beavers and fellow north-end resident Cyndi Seamon said they believe the new system will be helpful.

“Now I think it’ll be so much easier for everybody if we can use that as a reference,” Seamon said.

The town is expected to provide mapping information to dispatch, police personnel, beach volunteers and residents in the area. The information is expected to help the caller in describing the location of the incident, and help the responding officer in finding it.

Seamon said she recommended people save the map on their phones to have as a reference. She also mentioned the importance for dispatchers to know Greer Island is also often nicknamed Beer Can Island.

“That should be in their notes, too,” Seamon said.

While Sarasota County dispatch relays the information to Longboat Key first responders, the town used to handle 911 calls several years ago.

In 2016, the town switched over its 911 dispatch service from in-house dispatchers and Manatee County 911 service to Sarasota County’s Emergency Operations Center. In recent years, the town and the county have worked to improve communication between call takers based in offices on Cattlemen Road and Longboat Key residents, who are often familiar with local landmarks. 

In 2019, call takers and dispatchers visited the town and toured some of its landmarks in an effort to better learn what town residents might be talking about when on the 911 line. Months later, groups of Longboat Key first responders visited the county 911 call center to learn more about how that operation works.