Marion County’s public safety planning and operations will remain in “Gazette’s” focus

File photo: Numerous agencies including Ocala Fire Rescue and Marion County Fire Rescue and the Ocala Police Department responded to the scene of a large explosion at the Classic Laundromat store on Northeast 25th Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

Following a year in which the “Gazette’s” focus on public safety challenges in Marion County has led to important improvements, readers can expect even more attention to be paid to local leaders’ efforts to meet these critical needs for our rapidly growing population.

Starting with the new year, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners will receive an analysis from Marion County Fire Rescue on how each proposed development will impact public safety infrastructure. This is an important move since it takes years to get a new fire station up and running, which makes anticipating where they are needed before the need arises key.

Marion County’s goal is to have a fire station within a five-mile radius of every home, but that is not the case now. This means that if an engine is on an emergency call and another call comes in, there could be a delay in getting a unit to the new call, even if the emergency is only a mile from the station.

Additionally, Marion County Fire Rescue has recently launched a digital dashboard of real-time analysis of response times and call volume so that leaders can monitor and move resources more nimbly. We will visit the agency’s headquarters after the first of the year to report on the new dashboard and update you on current stats.

MCFR must monitor response times so officials can move assets around to increase efficiency. The agency stages units over the entire county daily and tries to meet national criteria of being en route to calls within 60 seconds of being dispatched, but with 1660 square miles to traverse calls, response times can vary.

Recently, in response to our request, MCFR provided a report from their Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system showing what time each call for service was received, when the units were dispatched and when the teams arrived on the scene.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of the call volume MCFR handles, the last report we received was for the first quarter of 2024. It contained over 24,000 individual calls, more than a quarter of which were inside the city of Ocala limits.

We’ve previously reported on the significant increase of calls this agency has responded to. For example, service calls from 2017-18 to the 2021-22 period increased by more than 30%.

Over the past year, call data and personal observations have shown that MCFR paramedics are often first on the scene, usually before law enforcement or any other fire department crews arrive.

However, this department has faced significant tragedy over the past few years while juggling personnel shortages with increased service demand due to our swelling population—all factors that impact its ability to respond to calls for service.

However, what we’ve witnessed in the way of MCFR’s resilience this year reflects the gritty determination we expect from the sort of people who chose careers that can involve running into burning buildings or pulling victims from car crashes.

Responding to the increased pressures the department faces, MCFR Chief James Banta told the “Gazette” last year officials there are working to handle the things they can control.

Banta has spoken frankly about MCFR’s challenges and has given the “Gazette” access to department personnel and information necessary to report on their efforts independently.

This department has been the most transparent of all the public safety agencies in Marion County, which is good news because MCFR, as the sole provider of ambulance services, is responsible to everyone in the county.

For example, “Gazette” reporters have observed union negotiations with the county; sat in on a town hall-style meeting for the department where the chiefs opened the floor for questions from the men and women who worked for them; spent 24 hours at the busiest fire station in the county; and sat with fire dispatchers as they handled emergency calls over three different days.

All the details gleaned have led to a better understanding of how MCFR leaders are developing and implementing strategies to improve their department’s efficiencies, which includes their readiness to respond when you call for help.

In May, we pointed out to the county that they were not publicly calculating how each development decision impacted public safety agencies. We pointed to specific development decisions where housing units were being approved that impacted fire stations, already running double the number of calls that are considered safe for the public and the health of the first responders.

The county government officials we spoke with responded to our observation with, “You are right, and we are going to make sure to figure out a way to include it.”

Deputy Chief Robert Graff explained in writing the process being put in at the start of 2025, “Marion County Fire Rescue has developed a template to provide input to the County Commissioners on the impact of planned urban developments of significant size during the permitting process.”

This information will be included with each development agenda item, which is an essential move for two reasons.

First, plans can be reviewed to ensure they can safely meet the increased need as the development decision is being considered; and second, count the cost of the development impact on public safety infrastructure.

Graff acknowledged in response to an inquiry that “there is currently not a set methodology for the developer to offset the costs of required enhancements to meet service demand.” However, impact fees are scheduled to be considered during a county workshop on Jan. 29, according to County Administrator Mounir Bouyounes.

But what about Marion County Sheriff’s Office, which also must meet increased demands for service?

Because of the agency’s lack of transparency, the answers are unclear.

For example, we were given access to observe dispatchers for the Ocala Police Department, Ocala Fire Rescue and Marion County Fire Rescue. The MCSO denied our request to observe how its personnel prioritize and dispatch emergency calls.

Sheriff Billy Woods has repeatedly told county commissioners he doesn’t have enough deputies to keep pace with growth. Commissioners have responded by doubling the sheriff’s budget since he took office in 2017.

We reported in October 2023 that Woods had increased both the number of personnel and their wages since taking office. The department has grown from approximately 716 employees to 900 since Woods was elected.

Despite working with the same CAD system as MCFR, and therefore arguably having the same ability to gather data and run reports, MCSO has told the “Gazette” it will not provide collective data in report form.

When asked whether the agency prepares any reports to Woods that analyze the department’s response times so that we could make a public records request for that analysis, MCSO spokesman Lt. Paul Bloom indicated that response times were analyzed on a case-by-case basis when the department deemed necessary. Not all calls are analyzed but senior MCSO leadership talk about call trends during monthly meetings, he said.

In contrast, OPD prepares daily end-of-shift response reports to monitor their agency’s effectiveness, which OPD Chief Michael Balken says he reviews weekly.

Unless the “Gazette” chooses to sue the sheriff’s office for the CAD report of incidents we know they can gather with a few keystrokes, or unless Woods sees fit to release this public information gathered at taxpayer expense, we are unable to provide an accurate report on MCSO response times and how they have been impacted by growth since we last reported in 2021.

We are concerned about the lack of accountability for response times for this agency. This concern extends not only to the public but also to those unarmed fire/medical personnel who often arrive at an emergency scene before law enforcement has secured the scene. Pulling individual CAD incident reports regularly over the past two years combined with personal observations on the scene have made us realize this risk looms large; however, it is not discussed publicly.

Additionally, how is MCSO strategically meeting the needs of this growing population and planning for more if it’s not preparing any formal analysis and being given no method for input on future county commission development decisions?

Bloom described a reactionary method to meeting growth, rather than one with a seat at the table before each development decision is made to ascertain the cost.

MCSO did give us recent call stats; to no one’s surprise, they have been increasing.