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Alan Burton
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Tuesday, November 3 2009 |
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The Michigan State Police are investigating how a series of 911 calls were handled by a dispatcher after learning that no one responded after a caller reported hearing agonized screaming for help somewhere in a neighborhood of Wyoming city. Forty minutes later the next-door neighbor of the caller discovered her fiancé dead in the garage, crushed when his car fell off a repair jack. The coroner says the man died quickly, and that an immediate response would not have saved him. However, the man's family is wondering why no police were dispatched to investigate the yells for help. The caller couldn't pinpoint the location of the yelling, even though he toured the neighborhood in his car. The calls for help stopped within one or two minutes, the caller said. Read about the controversy here, and listen to the series of 911 calls here. |
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Monday, November 2 2009 |
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A federal jury in Oregon has issued its verdict in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a hearing-impaired man who was Tasered and physically arrested after a dispatcher failed to relay information to officers about his disability. Erik Pierce was involved in a domestic dispute in 2005, and the brother of a woman involved in the dispute dialed 911. The caller mentioned that Pierce was deaf and had mental health issues, the lawsuit states. But the Willamette Valley Communications Center dispatchers did not give that information to deputies who responded. When Keizer police officers arrived and saw Pierce walking away, they ordered him to stop, instructions which he didn't hear and didn't comply with. The Tasering and struggle followed. The jury ruled primarily on the use of force used, but also on the county's failure to accommodate his lack of hearing when jailed. The jury found the officers were guilty of excessive force, but found the city of Salem, who operates the comm center, and Marion County, who operates the jail, guilty of negligence and violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Read more here, and download (pdf) portions of the lawsuit here. |
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Monday, November 2 2009 |
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Three words are missing—or at least temporarily lost—from a 911 call made back in 2006 by a woman who saw a suspicious man she believed was trying to steal money from a gas station ATM. Police arrived to confront the suspect, and ended up Tasering the man, who later died. Now the man's family has filed a federal lawsuit claiming police violated the rights of Otto Zehm, who was mentally ill and not trying to steal money. The 911 call was answered by a Spokane County dispatcher, who briefly talked to the caller and transferred her to the Spokane police. During the call, the witness may have said, "He's on something." But logging tapes of the two calls were never released together because of the two jurisdictions, and printed transcripts of the two calls were released with different versions, one without the three words. All parties are now scouring Web sites that might have posted full transcripts of both calls shortly after the incident. Read the complex story here. |
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Friday, October 30 2009 |
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Officials in Warren County (Ohio) say they've given a dispatcher accused of sleeping on-duty a three-day suspension without pay, taking into account his previous incidents of sleeping, and mitigating by some personal issues. Shawn Mason was sleeping earlier this month and missed an EMS call, officials say. He was given a written warning about sleeping on-duty two years ago, and received a verbal warning last September. According to the officials, a calltaker entered an EMS call in CAD, but then noticed that the call had not changed status indicating it had been dispatched. The calltaker walked over and found Mason asleep, and reported that to a supervisor. According to a county report released later, Mason is a good employee, but was having, "child care issues that may not have allowed him enough sleep to endure a 12-hour shift that can be rather mundane and boring.” Read more here, and a second story here. |
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Friday, October 30 2009 |
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The National Transportation Board (NTSB) has issued its final ruling on the circumstance surrounding the crash of Maryland State Police helicopter in Sept. 2008, and the dispatchers for the state police and Prince George's County were cited for insufficient training and failing to follow procedures after the accident, leading to a delay in locating the downed aircraft. The helicopter was on a medical mission in low clouds with five persons on-board, and was attempting to find its way down to land at Andrews Air Force Base. The chopper crashed into a Maryland suburb, killing all but one of the occupants. According to the NTSB, "The lack of adherence to effective flight-tracking policies by Maryland State Police System Communications Center personnel created an institutional mindset that allowed duty officers to assume that aircraft had landed safely when the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast signal was lost; over time, safe landings were taken for granted." The NTSB issued several recommendations, including additional training for dispatchers. Read materials about the incident and the NTSB's report: the incident abstract / incident presentations / list of all documents |
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Tuesday, October 27 2009 |
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There's no more confusion over whether Warren County (Ohio) dispatchers are sleeping on-duty, county officials say, after they've had surveillance cameras installed in the comm center. County commissioners say they are also considering a plan to change from 12-hour to 8-hour shifts for dispatchers. The surveillance was imposed after allegations that two dispatchers were sleeping in the center, one last week and another in 2008, but revealed only recently. The camera system didn't cost the county only for installation—a previous set of cameras used when the sheriff managed the comm center was simply re-installed. Read more about the on-going situation here. |
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Tuesday, October 27 2009 |
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The city of Fort Wayne (Ind.) and surrounding Allen County have been hashing out a proposal to merge their public safety communications operations for several years, with no degree of success until Monday, when the mayor and county commissioners came up with a tentative agreement. However, the plan is opposed—strongly—by sheriff Ken Fries. During a Monday meeting, the commissioners outlined that under the plan, the city and county would each select three members of a joint control board for the new consolidated center, and that group of six would select a seventh member. Sheriff Fries arrived 20 minutes after the meeting began with his chief deputy and six comm center employees, all in uniform. According to the local newspaper, "(Fries) criticized the proposed merger saying it would reduce accountability and hurt public safety—adding he plans to conduct a news conference after such a merger costs people their lives." Then, the report says that Fries shouted at the city and county staffers as they left, “You’re wrong, you’re wrong. People are going to die." Read more about the debate here. Another story has been posted here. |
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Monday, October 26 2009 |
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just completed a major upgrade to its Filed Comments and Proceedings databases, creating a system that is vastly more flexible for searching, more concise when displaying results, and very flexible in finding data related to the search results. The database of filed comments is a valuable source of information, opinions and ideas on the many public safety topics that the FCC is handling. Previously, searchers could enter one or more search terms, leading to a simple text display of results. Now search results include a summary explanation of the related docket, a configurable list of the comments, links to related documents, and the ability to create an RSS link to the search results so you can track them without future searches. Begin your exploration here. The FCC has also overhauled the Web page for the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which you can visit here. |
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Monday, October 26 2009 |
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It seemed like the ambulance took 30 or 40 minutes to arrive, according to the Porter Bush and his family after his 2 year-old daughter choked on popcorn at their rural Elmwood (Ill.) home. Actually, it was 17 minutes, still to long to save the little girl who had stopped breathing. Shannon Bush died three days later in a hospital, her brain unable to recover from the initial lack of oxygen. Now Porter is recalling the details of the story, including his absolute frustration with Fulton and Kno County dispatcher who he say's never told him, "Help in on the way." So Porter hung up the phone and drove to a nearby ambulance station, which he found empty. Read Porter's account, including a cellular phone battery that fell out of the handset, 911 call transfers and EMS unit staffing. Read more here. [map] |
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Monday, October 26 2009 |
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A second Warren County (Ohio) dispatcher has been suspended during an investigation into allegations that he was sleeping on-duty. Shawn Mason was put on leave last Thursday, and officials say he'll face a hearing to determine the facts and any discipline. According to county officials, he was disciplined two years ago for sleeping on the job. The action comes just a week after another allegation of sleeping on-duty was revealed, occurring just before a 911 call that later was determined to have been a murder. In that 2008 incident, officials say they are investigating if dispatcher Ron Kronenberger was sleeping just before he fielded a call from a man who claimed his wife had drowned. On the 911 tape of the call, Kronenberger seems confused and is slow to ask questions. Later, police determined the woman had been murdered, and arrested the call, Ryan Widmer. The allegation was only revealed last week when Widmer's second trial was getting ready to begin. |
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Monday, October 26 2009 |
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New Jersey State Police officials are investigating the handling of a hang-up 911 call, probably from a priest who was later found murdered. According to records from the West Trenton state police comm center, a 911 call was received last Thursday from the rectory of St. Patrick RC Church in the city of Chatham, but the call was lost before a dispatcher could hear any words or sounds. A state police dispatcher then called the number back and reached voicemail. A second call-back was answered by the church janitor, Jose Feliciano, who said there was no problem at the church. Based on that statement, no police were dispatched to investigate the 911 call. Police later arrested Feliciano for the murder of Rev. Edward Hinds. Read more here. |
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Saturday, October 24 2009 |
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The murder young Kansas woman in 2007 has prompted the state's legislators to introduce bills in the U.S. Congress to require that cellular carriers provide handset "ping" information to public safety agencies without a subpoena or search warrant. Kelsey Smith disappeared from Johnson County, and it took two days for investigators to obtain a list and map from Verizon Wireless of where her cellular phone had been received at antenna towers. Smith's family complained that she might have been found alive if the company had acted quicker. The Kansas state legislature passed a bill last February requiring prompt, no-paper delivery of cellular pings to public safety agencies who claim an emergency exists. It's the first and only such legislation in the United States. Now Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R) has introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Congress, hoping to make the requirement nationwide. Download (pdf) the four proposed bills, along with the Kansas law and related documents. |
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Friday, October 23 2009 |
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All four dispatchers for the city of Hubbard (Ohio) have received lay-off notices after the police department fell $49,000 behind on its budget. The notices are expected to be rescinded when and if the city council votes to cover the budget shortfall, but were issued to satisfy union notification requirements. The police headquarters was struck by lightning in Sept. 2008 causing damage, and an electrical fire this summer also created an unexpected budget expenditure. The city's insurance carrier has made an $18,900 payment, but hasn't yet sent the remaining $30,000. If the council doesn't act by Nov. 23rd, Trumbull County could take over dispatching operations, officials said. Read more here. |
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Wednesday, October 21 2009 |
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The husband of Florida murder victim Denise Lee appeared Tuesday on the ABC-TV "Good Morning America," explaining why he's sued the Charlotte County sheriff's office over how several 911 calls were mishandled. Nathan Lee said he doesn't want another family to go through the same experience. Denise Lee was kidnapped from her home and murdered in Jan. 2008. Two dispatchers were suspended without pay for mishandling the 911 call from a witness who saw the suspect driving along a highway, with Lee pounding on the windows from the back seat. "There's no doubt in my mind that Denise would still be here today if (a witness') call had been dispatched," Nathan Lee said during the TV show. Read the story and watch the show video here. |
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Monday, October 19 2009 |
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Officials in Warren County (Ohio) now say that a county dispatcher was most likely not deeply asleep when he fielded a 911 call in Aug. 2008 from a man who said his wife had drowned in a bathtub. But officials cannot say definitely if Ron Kronenberger was dozing off just before the call came in, and can't explain why Kronenberger sounds dazed and confused during the call. The caller, Ryan Widmer, was later charged with murdering his wife, and the 911 call has become part of the evidence against him. His first trial ended in jury misconduct, and now he faces a second trial. The allegations of Kronenberger sleeping arose only recently after a report on the call was made public by a local newspaper. The report included statements from fellow dispatchers that Kronenberger had been sleeping earlier in the shift. The report took county commissioners by surprise, and prompted the resignation (pdf) of county emergency management director Frank Young two days after the report was made public. He was a county employee for 20 years. But in response, county officials say Kronenberger handled two other 911 calls in the minutes before Widmer called. They say it's unlikely that he was completely asleep between those calls, and Widmer's call four minutes later. The district attorney says the situation won't affect the 911 evidence or the re-trial. At least one county commissioner said they would install video cameras in the comm center to monitor dispatchers. Read more about the situation and listen to the 911 call here. |
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Monday, October 19 2009 |
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After a year of study, the city of Lynchburg (Virg.) has updated its policy on handling wireless 911 calls, hoping to reduce the number of unnecessary responses to hang-up and accidental calls. LynCom center director Bill Alrich says 10 percent of wireless calls are unintentional or hang-ups, or about 12 out of the daily 400 calls that dispatchers receive. Some 911 calls can take 10 minutes to screen, Aldrich says. The current policy requires dispatchers to take "extraordinary measures" to insure that 911 calls are accidental or mistakes. So now, if a 911 call has no voice or audible background noise, and it's not coming from a TTY or similar device, there will be no emergency response. If the call is a hang-up, the dispatcher will call back the phone once, and if there's no contact or voicemail, likewise, there will be no emergency response. There is no national standard for handling accidental or hang-up 911 calls. However, the policy seems to be in compliance with guidelines developed by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) for handling these calls. NENA allows a single callback to hang-ups, and no police response if no contact is made. Their guidelines also generally require evidence of an emergency before taking extraordinary measures to locate the caller. Read more about the new policy here. Download (pdf) the NENA guidelines here. |
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