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Friday, October 10 2008 |
 Five Tulare County Sheriff's dispatchers walked off the job at midnight Wednesday, joining a county fire dispatcher and many other county employees for a one-day strike to protest what the union believes is foot-dragging over contract negotiations. The walk-out left only a dispatcher trainee and a dispatcher with 7 months of experience to handle dispatching. The Service Employees International Union Local 521 has been talking with county representatives since March, but talks have been on-and-off. Union officials said they asked dispatchers to make sure there were enough personnel to handle calls and incidents, but said they didn't have the authority to order the dispatchers to stay on the job. County officials say the walk-outs didn't affect public safety. Sheriff's dispatcher Edna Perkins, 52, is a 22-year veteran, and told a reporter she makes $1,600 a month (although the county's Web site says top pay is $3,840.75). After the walk-out, a supervisor and deputies were called in to fill the vacancies. Read more here. [Editor - This is the first on-duty union walk-out that I've ever heard about.] |
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Friday, October 10 2008 |
 A Randolph County (Ind.) dispatcher was fired in September for improper use of the Internet on-duty, and now he's been arrested and charged with a variety of crimes in connection with having improper sexual contact with minors. Jarrod Fisher, 22, was arrested at home without incident. Court documents say that Fisher talked to several females under 18, told them he had the power to arrest them and tried to intimidate them into sexual activity. The activity goes back to 2006, and his arrest came when a citizen tipped police Fisher was sending sexually explilcity text messages to a 16 year-old girl. Police then monitored Fisher's comm center computer, and learned he communicated with a juvenile female, asking her to send nude photos of herself to his cellular phone. Read more here.
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Friday, October 10 2008 |
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The Vermont State Police may stop handling non-emergency telephone calls transferred from local phone numbers at one of its comm centers, saying its dispatchers are too busy handling their own telephone calls and there is a staffing shortage. Several local agencies around Addison County now route non-emergency calls to the VSP when no dispatchers are on-duty, usually from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The VSP says 911 calls would continue to be handled, and they would give towns time to work out a solution to the change. About 30 agencies are affected, and they had some strong reactions. Read more about the change here. |
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Friday, October 10 2008 |
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In response to legislation passed this summer, the FCC has posted a notice that its "E911 Architecture Information System" has been activated, and that certain telecom companies are required to submit reports using the system. Under the Net 911 Act that was signed by President Bush, interconnection with 911 is extended to VoIP carriers, and must "analyze their 911 and E911 networks and/or systems and file reports addressing the redundancy, resiliency and reliability of those networks and/or systems." The companies have until Feb., 2009 to make the reports, which will be consider "confidential," except for release to APCO, NENA and NASNA.
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Wednesday, October 8 2008 |
 The U.S. economic crisis continues drag down world credit markets, and it's likely that the nation's public safety comm centers and dispatchers will eventually feel the effects. Most obviously, dispatchers who have retirement accounts that were invested in the stock market have seen their value decline substantially. Read more here. |
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Wednesday, October 8 2008 |
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Attention Luanne Quick--everyone in America now knows that you earn $36,005 a year as a Ulster County (NY) emergency services dispatcher. As part of a growing trend, the Times Record-Herald (NY) newspaper has collected pay information for over 390,000 government employees in New York state, and has posted a searchable version for three countires that provides individual pay rates, including for public safety dispatchers. Searching for "dispatcher" turns up 323 entries, mostly related to public safety (others are bus, etc.). Full-time pay rates seem to range from $28,808 to $63,858. Several other newspapers around the country are working on similar public pay rate projects. Start your pay search here. |
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Wednesday, October 8 2008 |
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A North Canton (Ohio) woman broke in to her son's trailer home when he didn't respond to the phone or knocks on the door, only to find him dead in the bathroom. She then dialed 911 to report that "his head is missing." Police are saying very little about the incident, but have released the logging tape of the woman's 911 call. She actually called North Canton police earlier to check on her son, but told reporters a dispatcher said police could only break in with a "good reason." Read more and listen to the questions that the dispatcher asks during the 911 call here. |
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Tuesday, October 7 2008 |
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Two years ago Truman Duncan was working a a rail yard outside of Forth Worth when he lost his footing, fell beneath a moving train and was basically cut in half. Unbelievably, he was able to reach his cellular phone and dial 911 for help as a co-worker ran for help. In a dramatic call, he told an unnamed dispatcher, "I think I'm cut in two." The female dispatcher asked him, "Someone got run over?" and Duncan patiently explains, "It was me." Duncan hasn't given interviews until now, after 21 surgeries and on-going rehabilitation. He now wants to spotlight the plight of returning Iraq military veterans, and so is telling his story to reporters. Read his story and listen to the amazing 911 call here. |
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Tuesday, October 7 2008 |
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A Tarrant County (Tex.) couple battled a burglary who broke into their home for 45 minutes before they could dial 911 for help. It took deputies another 12 minutes to arrive on-scene, and by that time the residents had stabbed and beaten the man, who later died at the hospital. The suspect had no criminal record, but deputies say he carried binoculars, hatchet, gun and rope that was evidence he surveilled the home and planned the burglary. Read more about the incident and listen to the 911 call here. |
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Tuesday, October 7 2008 |
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It was 1970 when Omaha police officer Larry Minard responded to a telephone call from a screaming man who said something bad was happening at a vacant house at 2867 Ohio St. When he arrived, he found the house empty except for a suitcase. Police say when he picked up the suitcase, it exploded, killing him. Now the logging tape of that call is being considered by the Nebraska Supreme Court in the conviction of two men who police say were part of an anti-government group associated with the Black Panthers. Edward Poindexter and David Rice are serving life terms, with their conviction partly based on the telephone call that was made by then-15 year-old Duane Peak. The two men's attorneys claim that Peak did not make the call, and are requesting a new trial. Read more about the recent Supreme Court hearing here. You can also listen to the entire Supreme Court oral argument (during which they play the 911 call) here. |
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Tuesday, October 7 2008 |
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A La Crosse County (Wisc.) woman stepped into the role of public safety dispatcher after a 95 year-old misdialed his daughter when calling for help after a fall. Beverly Kratt was soundly sleeping at 2 a.m. when her home telephone rang. At the other end was the man, who apparently pressed the wrong buttons. Realizing the man was in jeopardy, Kratt dialed 911 using her cellular phone and reached comm center supervisor Karen Hoel. The two then traded information as Kratt tried to obtain information from the man, who couldn't recall his address. But after questioning, the man could recall his daughter's name, and Hoel tracked the woman down to learn the man's address. EMS units arrived to take the man to the hospital, and also discovered he had a hearing disability. Kratt was recognized by the county as a 9-1-1 Hero for her actions.
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Tuesday, October 7 2008 |
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Fort Wayne (Ind.) dispatcher Katrina Mace was recently reunited with Myra Lassen, a woman who had to hid under a desk when burglars broke into her home in Sept. 2005. Lassen dialed 911 and Mace kept her on the tense phone call, urging her, "Don't say a word." The meeting was arranged by the Discovery Channel TV show "Call 911," which will feature the 911 call some time during this season. Read more about the reunion here, then read about the incident and listen to the 10-minute 911 call here. |
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Tuesday, October 7 2008 |
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An investigation by an Ohio university public safety training center has found significant problems at the Liberty Township (Ohio) police department, including mistakes by a dispatcher when handling an incident that ended with the death of an 87 year-old woman in April. Mary Rush, 87, was apparently locked out of her house and tried to get into the window. But the glass broke and she fell, breaking her leg and inflicting severe cuts from which she died. Neighbors who heard her calling for help dialed 911, but dispatcher Joe Lavaglio made several errors, said the investigators from Kent State University's public safety training center. Read more about the climate at the police department that surrounded Rush's death here. |
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Monday, October 6 2008 |
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The FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau kicks off a speaker series on Oct. 22nd with a presentation by Laurie Flaherty, Program Analyst from the NHTSA's Office of Emergency Medical Services. From 11 a.m. EDT to noon she'll discuss the agencies role in 911 issues, including NG911. The in-person presentation will be at the FCC's offices and pre-registration is required, but it will also be Webcast here.
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Monday, October 6 2008 |
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The Lenawee County (Mich.) 911 board voted to delay repairs to the public safety mobile data system until funding questions can be answered, possibly later this year. The mobile data server needs replacing at $18,000, prompting board chair Lt. William Kanouse of the state police to ask, "Is it really needed to keep the 911 system operating?" Officials acknowledge that without the MDT system, officers and deputies must run warrant, driver's license and vehicle registration checks by radio with a dispatcher, which adds to their workload. Last July the state changed how 911 centers are funding, creating uncertainty on how much each PSAP will receive each year. |
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Sunday, October 5 2008 |
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A long investigative article in the Atlanta (Geo.) Journal-Constitution newspaper says five years of dispatcher disciplinary records "reveals instances of insubordination, fighting, sleeping on the job, tardiness and absenteeism." The problems pre-date an Aug. 2 incident that delayed an EMS response for 25 minutes, ending in the death of a 39 year-old woman. Current dispatchers who talked to reporters--despite orders by management not to--said understaffing forces many dispatchers to work double shifts, creating fatigue and stress. “When you call Fulton 911, you are taking your chances, really,” said former dispatcher Cassandra Eloi. She was terminated last July for repeated rudeness. Dispatchers who are absent without leave are frequently not disciplined, probably because firing them would simply increase the staffing shortage. Read more about the newspaper calls, "Not enough workers, lots of slack" here and here. |
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Interested in civilianization issues and solutions? The city of Vancouver (BC) issued a report that includes an extensive comparison of how several cities civilianized their operations. Download (pdf) the report here. |
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