Dispatcher Arrested, Yanked From Console

A story of politics, a restraining order and a pair of Boston (Mass.) dispatchers played out to a strange ending on Feb. 10th when one dispatcher was pulled from his console, placed in handcuffs and arrested. It all started with an EMS incident appearing on the CAD screen of an EMT-dispatcher, who works in a separate room from police on the same floor of the Boston police headquarters building. The dispatcher needed a better location for the incident, so he sent a computer message to the police comm center asking for more information. The message was received by a police dispatcher, who happens to have a restraining order–unexplained by officials–against the EMS dispatcher. About 30 minutes after the message, the police dispatcher discovered who sent the message, informed her supervisor, and the EMS dispatcher was then arrested and taken away. EMS officials are irate, and suggest politics was involved, since the police dispatcher is the niece of BPD police superintendent chief Robert Dunford. The two have been dispatchers for eight years, although it’s not clear how long the restraining order has been in effect. EMS officials say a review of their dispatcher’s actions found he performed properly.