Dispatchers Disciplined

Two Prince Georges County (Md.) dispatchers have been suspended four days without pay their mishandilng of an incident that started with a stolen vehicle and ended in murder. A supervisor involved in the October incident received a written reprimand. The caller noticed a tow truck taking his vehicle and dialed 911. However, the dispatchers believed the car was being repossessd, and told the man to call back within an hour. The caller followed the tow truck, and was shot and killed by someone inside the truck. Public Safety Director Vernon Herron said, “What should have happened is we should have documented his call, got a callback number from him and dispatched police to the scene. And that did not occur.” None of the dispatchers was identified. The family of the victim told reporters that more needs to be done to insure the situation does not reoccur, including putting the comm center under the control of the police chief, where it was before a separate 911 agency was created about three years ago. Read the family’s reaction here.