After more than a year of delay, five New Orleans (La.) dispatchers have been disciplined for sleeping on the job with letters of reprimand. One of the dispatchers had also been accused of lying to investigators when confronted about sleeping, but was not fired for that infraction. According to police officials, the lying occurred before the department’s “you lie, you die” policy was put in place in Sept. 2010. The discipline comes in the aftermath of an extensive outside investigation of the New Orleans Police Department, and a recent study (pdf) of the Orleans Parish 9-1-1 District answer times increased dramatically during 2010 as the number of dispatchers were laid off, and as others quit because of mandatory furlough days. The agency went from 65 employees in April to just 34 in December, while 10-second answer times went from 98% to 89%. read more

An Iowa state administrative law judge has ruled that a former Cedar County sheriff’s dispatcher was properly fired for misconduct and should not receive unemployment benefits. Amy Willey, 29, was fired last year for inappropriate and sexually suggestive behavior. According to sheriff Warren Wethington, while on-duty over a two-year span, Willey made sexual comments regarding her breasts and other parts of her anatomy, telephoned a police officer to ask whether his penis was pierced, discussed sex toys, and grabbed her buttocks and breasts while at work. In the transcript of two telephone calls presented to a Workforce Development hearing judge, Willey gossiped with a city police officer and used profanities on a recorded line. When contacted by a newspaper reporter for comment, Willey claimed other dispatchers slept on-duty but were never fired. She also alleged the sheriff’s department would annually honor dispatchers who handled the most number of fatality incidents. Read more about her firing here.

Next week a new book will go on sale documenting, “The Lies of Sarah Palin,” including allegedly false statements she made in 1996 on an application for the job of Palmer (Ak.) police dispatcher. Author Geoffrey Dunn obtained the application paperwork during research for the book, which began in 2008, and wonders in the book why local journalists didn’t uncover it during the presidential campaign. Palmer is a town of about 8,500 residents about 20 minutes east of Palin’s home town of Wasilla. The application is ironic, since also during 1996 Palin was elected mayor of Wasilla and within months fired the city’s police chief. Iri Stambaugh later sued Palin over being fired without cause. He alleged Palin fired him because he opposed certain gun and bar legislation that Palin’s supporters were trying to pass through the state legislature and Wasilla city council. A judge later found for Palin in the lawsuit. Dunn’s book goes on sale May 10th.

An official investigation into the 2005 terrorist attacks against London’s public transport system found that control centers were quickly overwhelmed by telephone calls and radio traffic, and recommended the use of plain English, not only on the radio, but in face-to-face conversations among public safety personnel. A team of suicide bombers set off explosions on a London double-decker bus and in three underground train tunnels, killing 56 people and injuring 700. In a 65-page report, a London coroner said control centers fielded calls from both citizens and each other, tying up phone lines. At the London Ambulance Service, a single dispatcher was assigned to handle two radio channels for all four of the bombing incidents, slowing responses. The underground explosions damaged radio train equipment, forcing operators to use their cellular phones to call for help. The Metropolitan Police radio network did not work beyond the stations, and other agencies had no underground coverage at all. The coroner also determined that the region’s emergency services didn’t sufficiently train together, failed to quickly mobilize for a major incident, and that the CAD geofile didn’t properly locate underground train stations. Many of the named agencies have already implemented improvements in their operations. Download (pdf) the coroner’s report—the control center issues are discussed starting with paragraph #121 and communications starting at #156 and #186.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently issued waivers for two public safety agencies, allowing them to use paging frequencies for two-way voice communications. But the commission also warned that 700 MHz frequencies freed up by the digital television (DTV) transition must be considered “available,” even by agency’s who submitted their request before the transition. In separate rulings, the FCC denied Marin County (CA) and Garden City Park’s (NY) requests to use certain frequencies in the 480 MHz band, so-called “Part 22″ frequencies, under the usual conditions for granting a waiver. However, on its own initiative the commission reconsidered the requests using other FCC rules, and granted the requests. read more

A tornado with 140 mph winds swept through Haleyville (Ala.) on April 27th, site the nation’s first 911 call, injuring at least 10 people and damaging or destroying scores of buildings. The National Weather service said the tornado struck at about 5:10 p.m. southwest of the city, and continued almost 32 miles northeast, damaging property in a three-quarter mile path. The tornado was among 14 in the region, and part of 100 tornadoes that broke out on a single day. At least 356 people were killed and several thousand were injured by the storms. Officials said the tornado continued past Haleyville and into the Tennessee Valley, where it damaged other communities. View a tornado map after the break. read more

The roll-over vehicle accident that claimed the life of New Haven (Conn.) dispatcher on Interstate 91 last October was a mystery to investigators at the time. Jennifer Countermash’s vehicle swerved into the center divider, flipped over and she was ejected. She died at the scene, and there was no explanation for why it occurred. But now a claim filed with the city of New Haven by her ex-husband makes a startling accusation: an on-duty New Haven police officer had been chasing Countermash before the accident, “intimidating, following and/or harassing (her),” the claim states. The husband alleges that the officer’s speeding, text messages and other distractions caused Countermash to lose control of her car and crash. He also claims that the officer “pushed and/or bumped” Countermash’s vehicle, causing it to spin out of control. The state police are reportedly investigating the accident, but a spokesperson said he wasn’t immediately familiar with the case. The claim is a legal formality before filing a civil lawsuit against the city. Read more about the claim here.

A former Milwaukee (Wisc.) fire dispatcher has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging he was the victim of gender and disability discrimination, and that his firing was too severe a punishment for his alleged misconduct. Robert Koch, 32, was a three-year veteran of the agency in 2009 when he reported off on sick leave before his midnight shift. According to police-fire commission documents, Koch has offered five versions of his activities after midnight—drinking alcohol or not, out with friends or visiting someone at a hospital, eating at one restaurant or another. Either way, Koch says he woke up at 3:30 a.m. outside near his home, missing his credit cards and truck. In one version of his story he said he was wearing a condom, and had been riding in a taxi with a woman. He called police to make a report, and later in the day provided a urine sample that tested negative for any alcohol or drugs. The police-fire commission upheld his firing, and a Circuit Court judge affirmed discipline, but sent the case back for a rehearing on the punishment. Now Koch is also suing in federal court, saying his experience that night was, “a highly-traumatic event of a highly-sensitive nature,” and has sparked his stress, anxiety and depression. In the lawsuit he says the city and its police-fire commission, “have adopted policies or customs which result in disparate treatment of men when compared to similarly-situated women employees of the Fire Department.” They also treat disabled people different, Koch claims. The lawsuit claims lost income, emotional suffering, humiliation and embarrassment because of the discrimination. Download (pdf) the federal lawsuit here, and read more about the situation here.

The top court in Maryland has ruled that state common law precludes a police officer from suing the state after a dispatcher provided wrong information about an incident, leading to the officer’s serious injuries from a car accident while responding. The Court of Appeals cited the state’s “Fireman’s Rule,” which covers suing those “whose negligence necessitated the public safety officers’ presence at the location where the injury occurred.” The rule has been adopted by 25 other states, the court noted, and covers this case, in which a state police dispatcher failed to ask sufficient questions of a 911 caller in 2002, and dispatched Thurmont town police officer Richard White to an “armed robbery” when, in fact, it was a shoplift theft from a hardware store. White located the vehicle and gave chase, but crashed while rounding a curve, and he was seriously injured. read more

During the post-murder investigation of Arlington (Tex.) Off. Jillian Michelle Smith, police officials discovered that a 911 calltaker and a radio dispatcher did not follow the proper procedures, thereby putting officers in jeopardy when they responded to the incident scene. Fire chief Don Crowson, whose department manages the city’s joint police-fire comm center, said the mistakes did not lead to or contribute to Smith’s death last December. But the errors were significantly dangerous. Dispatcher Joan Ware was fired today for not following proper procedures, and 911 calltaker Martha Kimball resigned earlier. Police chief Theron Bowman said dispatch procedures have been changed to send two officers to every report of a domestic assault, even if the suspect is reported to have left. In this case, a woman dialed 911 to report an assault by her boyfriend. She said the man had left in a car. Smith arrived and, police later learned, the boyfriend arrived within two minutes and quietly entered the apartment where Smith was talking to the victim. The boyfriend then became angry, shot and killed Smith, then chased his girlfriend to a bedroom and fatally shot her. The man then returned to Smith, took her gun and shot himself. The woman’s daughter was present, but escaped and ran to a neighbor for help. The neighbor dialed 911 while driving back the apartment, but couldn’t give an exact address. According to Bowman, the dispatchers failed to connect the shooting 911 call with Smith’s incident, failed to tell officers that the daughter had said an officer had been shot, and didn’t collect other caller and witness information. Read more about the incident and read the police crime report here.

The New Jersey Supreme Court has tossed out the guilty plea of a man arrested on drug charges, saying a Millville police dispatcher violated the man’s 4th Amendment rights by giving the arresting officer incorrect information that the man had a warrant. The court’s decision extends application of the exclusionary rule further up the chain of law enforcement to include dispatchers on whom officers rely for arrest information. Previously, cases involving officers operating in good faith but on bad information were generally upheld by the courts. In this case, the court was particularly harsh, saying the dispatcher was “plainly unreasonable” in failing to take further investigative steps to confirm the warrant. As a result, the exclusionary rule applies and the drugs were excluded as evidence. read more

The attorney for a former Wayne (Neb.) police dispatcher has filed a discrimination claim with the city asking for $167,501.39 for back pay, punitive damages and attorney fees in connection with her 2009 firing for a variety of charges that included insubordination, unauthorized use of city equipment, abuse of sick leave and use of offensive language. Katherine Lassila claims she was fired in retaliation for her complaints of discrimination for her medical condition, and reporting co-workers watching pornography. She also says co-workers frequently made inappropriate comments to her, and a supervisor suggested she needed a psychiatric examination. The claim says Lassila and her son were forced to move out of the city because police officers were surveilling her home, and that she’s been unable to obtain comparable employment since her firing. Accompanying Lassila’s claim is a collection of memos written in 2009 that reveal cursing between Lassila and co-workers, bickering over kitchen dishes, and parking ticket computer entries. A previous complaint filed by Lassila with the state’s Equal Opportunity Commission was dismissed for a lack of evidence. Read more about the current claim here, and download (pdf) the complaint here.

Public safety agencies can now purchase their own mobile cellular site from AT&T to provide communications for remote locations or at active emergency scenes. Today the company introduced its Remote Mobility Zone product, which can be arranged for either fixed or mobile installations. It links to AT&T’s network via satellite or Internet for up to 28 simultaneous calls or data connections within a half-mile (mobile) or one-mile (fixed) radius. The company says the product provide 2.5g-level GSM phone service, or what’s called EDGE. The Internet back-haul version requires at least a 256 Kbps connection, which could be provided by DSL service. The new product mimics the consumer-level, so-called “femotocell” offered by AT&T under the brand name 3G MicroCell that was introduced last year. In a press release, AT&T says the new equipment and voice plans are only available in counties where AT&T already has service, and the mobile version is available only to government users. The gear automatically manages the available spectrum at the set-up site by detecting in-use frequencies, detecting interference, and selecting the appropriate channels to use. The equipment costs $2,700, and a monthly voice plan is also required. Read more about the service here, and download (pdf) a brochure about the service. read more

The family of a woman who died along a rural Saskatchewan (Canada) road in 2010 has filed a lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), saying a dispatcher mishandled a 911 call asking for help. Kerry Canepotatoe, 19, was in a car that ran off the isolated road and got stuck in April 2010. Her cousin dialed 911 and spoke to an RCMP dispatcher, asking for a tow truck. But when no one arrived after several hours, Canepotatoe set out to find help. Her body was found four days later—she had died of exposure. The cousin and two children were found in the car three days after that, severely dehydrated and malnourished. The family says the dispatcher did request a tow truck, but should have followed up on the call. The tow truck driver couldn’t locate the vehicle and took no other action. The family is also suing the provincial highway ministry over the lack of signs along the rural road. Read more about the incident here, and listen to various 911 calls here. Update: In Dec. 2011 the family and RCMP settled the lawsuit.

By July 2013 all county-level public safety comm centers in West Virginia are required to have trained their dispatchers to provide emergency medical dispatching (EMD) services, and to bear the costs of training and any extra staffing. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the legislation last month after legislators approved the bill with little debate. According to the legislative analyst, 21 counties are already providing EMD services, and another 20 are planning to provide it. Another seven counties said they don’t have EMD plans. View the bill’s history here, and download (pdf) the final text here. Also read about one county’s financial dilemma is implementing the new requirement.