Training Becomes Issue After Police Shooting

Officials in Boone County (Iowa) have revealed that a veteran dispatcher who mishandled a 911 call that ended with an officer-involved shooting never received the state-required training because she was hired before the training became mandatory. Three other dispatchers among the center’s 13 employees have also not received the training, which the state considers the basic minimum necessary to perform the job. Dispatcher Jeanie Driscoll fielded a 911 call from a grocery store employee who reported a man walking the aisles with a knife, threatening customers and trashing merchandise. At one point Driscoll asked the caller, “Since you don’t have visual on this guy, is there any way you can get to him?” Critics said that request may have put the caller in jeopardy from the suspect. Driscoll joined the comm center in 1994, and four years later the state established a 16-hour class of required training. However, the requirement only applied to newly-hired dispatchers, not existing employees. Sheriff Ron Fehr said two dispatchers, including Driscoll, were grandfathered in under the training law, and two others were hired last month and have yet to take the training. Read more about the incident and the training questions here.