Stanislaus, Modesto disagree with grand jury recommendations on 911 call center
Stanislaus County and Modesto responded to a critical grand jury report on a 911 dispatch center dispute. Both entities agreed with certain findings in the 2024-25 civil grand jury report but largely disagreed with its recommendations and said they won’t implement them.
The grand jury report, released June 25, scrutinized the issues related to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office’s refusal to join other agencies in connecting with a new computer-assisted dispatch system at the Stanislaus Regional 911 center.
Affected agencies were legally given until late September to formally respond to the watchdog panel’s report. Supervisors approved the county’s response Tuesday morning, Sept. 9. The Modesto council signed off Tuesday evening.
The county response partly disagreed with a grand jury finding that county oversight of the Sheriff’s Office is inadequate. The grand jury said the county could create a Sheriff’s Oversight Board, consisting of citizens, or could establish an Office of Inspector General to help oversee the Sheriff’s Office and enhance accountability and transparency.
The county response said that while the Government Code authorizes creation of an oversight commission, it also authorizes the county to supervise all offices.
The proposed county response also said the county won’t implement the grand jury’s recommendation to form a Sheriff’s Office oversight commission because Sheriff Jeff Dirkse has recently announced a Sheriff’s Advisory Council to include appointed individuals from each supervisor’s district.
“The Board will continue to evaluate options regarding sheriff oversight in compliance with state law and in consideration of ongoing developments, while respecting the independent authority of the Sheriff’s Office and its current advisory structures,” the county’s proposed response said.
According to a recent Modesto Bee report, the 15-member advisory committee will meet quarterly at the Sheriff’s Office to provide insights and recommendations as it pertains to crime trends, reviewing new and revised policies, community events, complaint processes and other topics. The meetings will be closed to the public.
City defends JPA that oversees dispatch center
Modesto’s response agreed with the grand jury that the Sheriff’s Office is an outlier among the agencies participating in SR911, which handles 911 calls for Modesto police, sheriff’s deputies, fire districts and other county agencies. But the city disagreed with a finding that the joint powers authority formed in 1999 is outdated.
The city response acknowledged that some terms of the JPA could be further updated but major amendmends are not legally necessary. The city notes the structure of the SR911 governing body was substantially modified in June 2024 to “provide better structure, participation and oversight by the JPA members.”
The response also said the city won’t implement the grand jury’s recommendation for a task force to conduct a comprehensive update of SR911. The jury recommended a multidisciplinary task force including the city, county and others in the emergency response community.
A working group including the city, county and legal counsel collaborated in last year’s substantial changes to the JPA, the response said.
The proposed county response disagreed with the grand jury finding that the SR911 JPA is outdated and needs major revisions. The response said the modifications last year revised the composition of the Consolidated Emergency Dispatch Agency Commission and provided for a liaison from each member agency to work with the dispatch director and help guide operational planning.
Modesto also disagreed with grand jury recommendations to define the role of the SR911 director and develop a “request for proposals” process to guide SR911 in making major purchases. The city response said a clarification of the director’s role is not warranted.
As for an RPF process, the city and county have procurement regulations, the city response said. The county, in disagreeing with the procurement process recommendation, said a separate RFP process for SR911 would duplicate existing, legally compliant procedures.
Dirkse, who was sharply criticized in the grand jury report, has argued that the procurement process for choosing the CentralSquare CAD system for SR911 was faulty. Dirkse has said he began working with Oracle Corp. on developing a new CAD after Modesto served notice in 2021 it would leave the JPA. Modesto later reversed that decision and the SR911 governing board selected CentralSquare as the new CAD system.
The grand jury also recommended the county, city and Sheriff’s Office use the services of professional mediators to mend the working relationships of key officials in the JPA. The city response disagreed:
“Subject matter experts have been involved throughout the process of the CentralSquare CAD implementation. The Sheriff’s Office has been invited to participate in the process. The city of Modesto is committed to working collaboratively with all parties, including the Sheriff’s Office, to insure the continuity of public safety services for the residents SR911 serves.”
There was no additional information Monday on whether the Sheriff’s Office will cooperate with implementation of CentralSquare later this month.
This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 5:50 PM.
