The Longview (Tex.) News-Journal has a long article profiling the city’s police comm center, saying they must be, “professional multi-taskers, comforting the callers and providing life-saving advice as they simultaneously send rescue personnel to wrecks, fires, crimes and other emergencies.” The story explains Phase II technology and talks about the challenges of various calls. Read the story here.

Bangor (Penn.) police chief Glenn Kerrigan says the department is investigating a four-minute radio broadcast in January over the Northampton County radio system that included chicken clucking sounds and profanities. He said one of his off-duty officers is a suspect in the incident, and that he’s consulting with a voice analyst on the 3:30 a.m. broadcast. Criminal charges are a possibility, he noted. Bangor PD has just 9 full-time and 11 part-time officers.

The city of New York released nine hours of logging tapes last month, and now a TV station has posted a large collection of the audio in mp3 format for listening or download. Surf here for the list of tapes and the links. Also check this private Web site for an edited version of the tape collection.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the city’s 1,565 fire and EMS units will be equipped and tracked with an automatic vehicle location system (AVL) by the end of the summer at a cost of $50 million. He said a pilot program with fire department units resulted in a 33-second decrease in response time to emergency incidents, using AVL to make the CAD recommendation. Bloomberg didn’t mention in a press conference or press release what company would be installing the system.

An office worker in Gaithersburg (Md.) dialed 911 from a PBX extension when he suffered a medical problem, and was able to speak a few words before the call was disconnected. Montgomery County dispatchers then sent emergency units, but to the address listed on the 911 call’s ANI/ALI, which was another location for the same company (usually the location of the PBX gear). The caller, in a building next door, lay unconscious for 10 hours before another worker found him and dialed 911 again. Company officials said the victim had a private office, was new to the building and had no visitors all day. Read the story here.

A short-time Boston (Mass.) 911 calltaker helped save the lives of five persons who had been overcome by carbon monoxide gas at a business. John McKenna has only five months on the job, but recognized the symptoms and coaxed the location from the disoriented person who had hung up, and McKenna then called back. Read the story here

The CBS Evening News ran a report on the lack of progress of Phase II upgrades at the nation’s PSAPs, noting that 40% don’t have location capabilities. Bob Schieffer noted that Congress authorized spending, “a quarter of a billion dollars a year” for Phase II, but didn’t mention the latest funding request totals just $21 million. Reporter Mika Brzezinski incorrectly reported how the location feature works (data not relayed by satellite), and talked to Cincinnati dispatcher Jeff Bradley, who has since passed away from cancer.

Watch the video.

The Monterey (Calif.) peninsula is a beautiful place to live and work, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains. But good dispatcher candidates are tough to find, according to an article in a local newspaper, which describes the tough requirements for the Monterey County Emergency Communications Department. Read the story here.

An interview by MRT Magazine with SAFECOM/DHS director David Boyd reveals his take on interoperability: “Technology is the reason we have the [interoperability] problem, but it’s not the driver to the solution. The most important element of interoperability today is primarily an organizational/human kind of issue.” Read Boyd’s other perspectives here.

The day after the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the local CBS-TV affiliate ran a news story that pointed out the city’s comm center is understaffed by about 78 dispatchers. A union representative told the reporter that dispatchers frequently work 12-hour days, sometimes six days a week, and that stress is taking its toll on dispatchers and customer service. Watch the video, or read the newspaper story here.

Former Seneca County (NY) dispatcher Michelle Eaton, 40, was arrested and charged with official misconduct and second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, in connection with a previous drug raid and arrest. According to sheriff’s officials, Eaton allegedly tipped off the subject of the raid while she was on-duty. She was suspended and then fired after the incident, and now faces criminal charges. Read the story here.

Even the best-planned 911 cut-over can go astray, just as it has in Steuben County (NY), where Verizon’s newest phone books don’t list 911 as the emergency, but rather the soon-to-be discontinued 7-digit numbers. Now the county is pondering what to do: keep the 7-digit numbers past their planned May 12th phase-out date, and whether to have them answered or routed to a recorded announcement. Read more here.

The Public Safety Communications Association in the San Joaquin Valley (Calif.) held their annual NTW banquet to honor the work of dispatchers over the past year. As part of the project, the banquet team members produced an excellent program for the night, highlighting the honorees, their background and hard work. Download (pdf) the program as an example of what your agency can do next year.

U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Conrad Burns (R-MT) have written a letter to the Committee on Appropriations asking members to provide $21 million in funding this year for the ENHANCE Act of 2004. The legislation established communications grants for public safety agencies, and an federal-level 911 coordination office. The original bill authorized up to $250 million in grants annually for five years, but Sen. Clinton and Burns say this lesser $21 million, “should be an amount adequate to ensure the launch of the (911 office) and begin the process of issuing grants…” Download (pdf) the letter for details.

The nation’s opinion of public safety dispatchers was cruelly split during National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week as dispatchers were honored at some jurisdictions, while newspapers and TV stations continued to run stories on the Detroit (Mich.) 911 incident. Even the local Detroit Free Press recognized the irony with a story that recognized Macomb County dispatcher Thomas Stawski for handling a 911 from a child. The newspaper went on to wonder, “The juxtaposition of the two cases raises questions about whether 911 callers are treated differently in the city and the suburbs.”