LA controller notes progress in crisis response, but work remains

Los Angeles has made progress on its crisis response efforts over the last few years, but City Controller Ron Galperin wants more done, according to follow-up audits released Thursday.

Galperin published reports following up on the progress of NotifyLA and the Disaster Service Worker program, two of the city’s core crisis response efforts. NotifyLA is the city’s emergency alert system, and the Disaster Service Worker program — activated for the first time during the pandemic — consists of civilian employees who provide additional support during emergencies.

On NotifyLA, Galperin found that the city has begun to formalize operating procedures and improve consistency in messaging since he audited it in 2018. He said pre-scripted emergency alerts should be developed in languages other than English.

Galperin found that the Disaster Service Worker program has made progress but still needs improvement on deployment protocols and systems assigning employees to roles.

“As the nation’s second largest city and home to nearly four million residents, Los Angeles has to be ready to respond to unexpected emergencies at a moment’s notice,” Galperin said. “NotifyLA and the Disaster Service Worker program are critical to safeguarding the well-being of our residents. While I am encouraged by the progress the city has made since we first reviewed these programs, more must be done. The safety and security of Los Angeles depends on these programs functioning at their highest level.”

The two reports can be viewed at lacontroller.org/notify-la-follow-up-audit and lacontroller.org/dsw-follow-up-audit.

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