WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren has moved the Navajo Police Department as well as the sluggish tribal economy to the next level of speed and efficiency with a stroke of a pen.
The President on Wednesday signed a $6.2 million contract with MTM Solutions of Farmington, N.M., to fulfill a 20-year dream to bring E911 digital communication to the Nation.
The system uses NextGen 911 technology, a digital internet protocol that replaces analog 911 that has been in place for years and sends Navajo 911 emergency calls to border towns.
“I’m excited for this,” the President told Keri Schrock, CEO of MTM Solutions, and Michael Anderson, executive director of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.
“I know that this is going to help a lot of our families, not only just public safety,” the President said. “It’s going to help everybody across the Nation. So I just want to say thank you.”
This will be the first Native American tribal entity to have a consolidated primary public safety answering point with NextGen911, Ms. Schrock said. States and the federal government will be watching the success of the Navajo Nation, she said.
“So we’re leapfrogging over enhanced 911 and we’re going to NextGen911 which is routed by geospatial data,” she said. “Instead of hitting towers and trying to figure out where they’re standing, they take the data off of your cell phone. It’s real time data and it is all due, in part, because of the technology, infrastructure, broadband, fiber outlay.”
She said one thing discovered through her company’s feasibility study is that it is feasible on the Navajo Nation because fibre is there.
“I know with your initiatives there’s more projects coming, and so that just sets you guys apart,” she told President Nygren. “I applaud you for the work you’re doing.”
President Nygren said that although he is not a telecommunications expert, it’s not difficult to see the value of this enhanced technology.
“I know we need reliable access for our police officers to have emergency access to telecommunications and that’s what this is going to help get done, along with rural addressing,” he said.
The President commended Director Anderson and Navajo Police Chief Darryl Noon for taking on the challenge to get the E911 system in place.
“I’m glad you’re taking this step,” he said. “It’s an honor to be able to sign this contract today. Once it’s signed, let’s make sure it just doesn’t sit in this office. Let’s get it down to the controller’s office and get things processed and pushed out the door. That’s my commitment to you all.”
Chief Noon told the President he promoted Lieutenant Leonard Redhorse to deputy chief of auxiliary service with the sole purpose of enhancing the police department’s financial operations. That included overseeing the development of E911 and rural addressing to increase response times to emergencies in remote areas of the Navajo Nation.
“I actually asked him flat out, ‘Is it worth your time?’ because we had nine months to spend $3.2 million dollars,” Chief Noon said. “And he said, ‘Yes, I can do it.’ So we rallied behind him and he and created this project to show that it can be done.”
Chief Noon said he had heard all the stories of officers driving into remote areas in search of a house with few landmarks to go by. He said he remembers the first time five years ago when he actually witnessed a tribal ambulance getting Navajo-style directions to a house.
“It’s just like you described,” he told President Nygren. “You turn left at the fork in the road. You look for the tree that’s shaped like a Y. The next house after that tree has a pink roof. That’s where you need to go.”
But, in the end, the driver may say he passed the tree but doesn’t see that house.
“That’s when it became a reality for me,” Chief Noon said. “I heard all the stories but actually hearing it on the radio was what it took. And then comes the first 911 project that was supposed to work for our department. Unfortunately, we let things fall through the cracks.”
Now, with improved digital technology and the right leader in place, he said, Navajo citizens in emergencies will now have quicker response times so that police, fire, ambulance services can pinpoint their exact locations.
Soon to follow, he said, will be various delivery services like FedEx, UPS, Amazon and others that now can’t find residences without street signs or home numbers.
Ms. Schrock said her experience and her desire to improve and save lives came from having been on the receiving end of emergency calls.
“I started my career as a 911 operator in 2003 in San Juan County,” she said. “Many times I would be on a phone call with someone on the Nation because the 911 calls were transferred to us. Needing help in an emergency situation is like, ‘Its a quarter mile southwest of the chapter house and there’s the boot on the fence.’ A lot of times there were significant delays in getting help because of that.”
Rural addressing is something that goes hand in hand with E911, she said.
“A E911 call or correct address is a life,” she said.
Building on the platform of helping public safety and knowing exactly where officers are going without having to pull out a map or use GPS while driving, officers can hear the communicator say a specific address and know where those addresses are and how far down a road a location is, she said.
“We started with the police dispatchers at $13 an hour, Mr. President,” Commander Redhorse said. “Now, because of this project, we now classify 911 operators at $25 an hour. So you are building up the skill set capacity of not only individuals within our communities but you’re creating that benchmark that equates to a higher standard just by the signature on that contract. You’re elevating the livelihood of many of our committee members, seven distinct dispatch centers, employed with eight individuals in each individual site. That’s the scale that you’re now affecting.”
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