Maine Center Named Best of 2007

Dispatchers Sharon Carey, William Crawford and Tammy Baker at the Somerset County (Maine) Comm Center have received the “Team of the Year” award from the state chapter of NENA, primarily for their handling of a hostage situation in the rural town of Skowhegan last January. A woman dialed 911 to say her husband had a loaded shotgun to her head, and Carey spent the next 92 minutes on the phone with the woman, while Crawford and Baker handled the response of law enforcement agencies to the house that was 100 miles away. The man eventually surrendered and the woman was unhurt. Ironically, on the daily log, the complex incident was simply listed as “911 threatening” with arrests made. Deputy Director Michael Smith dug into the background and nominated the trio. Read more about the award here.