In one of the most serious disciplinary actions against dispatchers in recent history, the Leon County (Fla.) Joint Dispatch Agency (CDA) has fired three long-time employees who failed to broadcast premise alert information that warned a resident intended to “shoot any law enforcement” who came to his house. Officials said the premise alert had been entered just two weeks earlier, but all three dispatchers either failed to notice it or didn’t broadcast it. Last November that resident set fire to his own home and ran to a neighbor’s house to call for help. When Dep. Chris Smith arrived at the house, the resident opened fire and killed him. He also shot at Dep. Colin Wulfekuhl, but he was saved when a bullet hit his protective vest. The suspect was then shot and killed by a third deputy after a 12-minute exchange of gunfire. CDA director Tim Lee said, “The Leon County Sheriff’s Office is gravely concerned and deeply troubled about the CDA staff not providing available, critical officer safety information” to the first responders, including the fire department. The fired dispatchers are Gwen Forehand, 25 years of service, Doyai Hester, 20 years, and Darrel Newman, 10 years. A dispatcher-in-training was suspended for two weeks without pay over the incident. Lee said all CDA dispatchers will receive training to stress the importance of premise alerts and how to access them. The comm center took over dispatching for several agencies earlier this year, and has been criticized by emergency agencies for mistakes and technology glitches. Read more about the firings here. Update: Within days, the three dispatchers appeared very briefly at a press conference arranged by their attorney. They said they performed as trained, while the attorney raised a question whether the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) software had properly dispatched the premise alert. Watch the video after the break. Update: in mid-January 2015 the CDA announced several procedural changes to insure first responders will receive future premise hazard alerts. In mid-January 2015 the city released the names of the dispatchers: calltaker Constance Hollinger and radio dispatcher Beth Mandl.
Read more about the press conference here.
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