Boston Changes Wrong Address Rules

After a 14-minute response delay to a fatal stabbing, Boston (Mass.) police have modified their response policy: now, when calltakers take an address for an emergency that might be in two or more different neighborhoods, officers will be sent to all the matching locations to insure a prompt response. The policy will last until officials find a better way of entering, listing and verifying in the department’s CAD system so that identical addresses don’t confuse an emergency response. A woman was stabbed to death in her Dorchester apartment at 689 Washington St. However, the police were sent to the same address in the Downtown Crossing district, about 7 miles away. As it turned out, the victim had been dead for several hours, but police want to eliminate a delay to a more critical incident. Boston updated the 911 system last January to include mapping and other features. In fact, there are three Washington Street locations within the city. Officials said it was the first duplicate address incident they’d heard of since installing the new 911 system.