In The Community

LESA is active in the community – both locally and in national industry organizations – and is dedicated to community outreach and education and to the promotion of 9-1-1 technology improvements.

The Public Relations (PR) unit is responsible for providing internal and external communications, advertising, in-house publications, maintaining LESA’s website, and also serves as LESA’s primary media contact. The unit’s mission is to increase awareness of LESA in the community and law enforcement industry – communicating LESA’s proven record in providing quality 9-1-1 dispatch, records and information technology – by forging partnerships in the community, in law enforcement and in government. In the box at right are recent examples of the PR unit’s work to spread the word – whether to shine the light on exemplary actions, promote a cause to improve 9-1-1 services or to raise community support.

Perhaps the best way to learn about LESA is by visiting our website! In 2008, LESA overhauled and improved its website and began regularly updating content with news and employment information. In less than a year, the website received over 2.3 million hits! Called “one of the best public safety websites” by a nationally renowned PSAP consultant, LESA’s website provides a wealth of information – including 9-1-1 education, Records Management service information and forms, Employment opportunities and News. The website also provides a way for citizens to contact LESA for comments, questions or concerns via our Contact Us page.

Each year, LESA provides free educational presentations on 9-1-1 and other topics to numerous community organizations, neighborhood groups and citizens’ law enforcement academies. Our community education objective is to increase awareness of our services and to prepare citizens to use those services appropriately and efficiently. Additionally, our community outreach efforts afford us the opportunity to solicit feedback to ensure that we are doing our job, identify areas that need improvement or where additional training may be necessary.

Community education is an especially effective tool for 9-1-1 – whether it’s by group presentation, media appearance or via a public service announcement. While 9-1-1 is the lifeline of people in a dire emergency, 9-1-1 is often abused – treated as a catch-all information line or is mis-dialed by children playing with telephones or cellular phones. LESA found that by educating the community on the proper use of 9-1-1, how 9-1-1 works when a call is answered, and advertising alternative phone numbers (such as LESA’s non-emergency line: 253-798-4721), we can greatly improve our call answering ability. The faster our 9-1-1 call takers can answer an emergency call, the faster a person needing help will receive the appropriate police, medical or fire response.