County Goal 10.1:  Expand shared services to build capacity and support effectiveness of regional partners

Objective/Metric 1: Encourage adoption of a countywide, unified emergency mass notification system.

The Division of Emergency Management of the Department of Public Safety and Justice Services (PSJS) contracts with OnSolve for its CodeRED emergency mass notification system. Implemented as the ReadyNotify program, PSJS utilizes CodeRED to issue countywide alerts through voice calls, text messages, and/or emails regarding emergency incidents such as severe weather, major road closures and other situations that impact large areas of the County. The County also makes this notification service available to municipalities free of charge, enabling local leaders to issue targeted alerts on emergency incidents or other situations effecting constituents within their communities. As of Q1-22, there are 45 municipal and 23 local agency subscribers using the system.  

Objective/Metric 2:  Establish resource database consisting of first responder agencies (fire, law enforcement, EMS) and public works/service departments within Cuyahoga County.

Emergency Management manages a database system that tracks inventories of equipment and apparatus owned and utilized by local police, fire, and public works departments in responding to emergency incidents. The database, powered by the web-based application Knowledge Center, is available to all emergency response agencies within Cuyahoga County. Each local agency enters and updates its inventory on a regular basis and, in turn, has access to view all information in the system. This system facilitates the sharing of vehicles and equipment among communities. As of Q1-22, there are 52 fire department and 60 police department stakeholders in the system entering and maintaining their inventories.

Objective/Metric 3: Develop emergency evacuation plans for communities to protect against and respond to natural and human-caused incidents.

An evacuation plan enables first responders to safely and efficiently direct residents, workers and visitors away from the location of a large-scale emergency. Emergency Management coordinated creation of a template available for use by Cuyahoga County municipalities in developing their own customized community evacuation plan. Emergency Management is also providing technical assistance to municipalities, as needed, in the evacuation planning process. As of Q1-22, the Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management has facilitated the completion of 39 community evacuation plans.

County Goal 10.2: Support regional approaches to public safety and law enforcement

Objective/Metric: Deliver training on use of the danger assessment-law enforcement tool to police departments.

When used by law enforcement, the danger assessment tool has been shown to be highly effective in identifying domestic violence situations that pose potential risk of lethality for the victim. Witness Victim Services received a federal grant to train law enforcement in the City of Cleveland on the use of a danger assessment tool. With training in all five districts of the Cleveland Division of Police complete, the project is now being expanded to law enforcement in Cuyahoga County’s suburban communities. As of Q1-22, Witness Victim has provided training to two suburban law enforcement agencies (South Euclid, Shaker Heights), and one government agency department (CMHA). Three additional departments have scheduled trainings for full implementation during 2022 (Rocky River in April; Westlake in June; MetroParks in October). In the interim, toward continuing its expanded use throughout the County, the agency continues to meet with police departments to provide them with an overview of the use of the tool. Outreach on presentations and implementation has been organized according to municipal court agency.