The Georgia state Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that would keep certain 911 logging tapes confidential, part of a growing trend among state legislatures to provide some measure of privacy for those who dial the emergency number. The Georgia legislation was sparked by a recent request by a Hustler magazine freelance writer for crime scenes photos from a 2008 murder where the female victim was found nude and dismembered. A judge has denied the writer’s request. The Georgia legislation follows similar bills introduced in other states intended to protect the families and friends of victims from hearing the final words of their loved ones replayed on radio and TV. In general, the bills are being opposed by media groups and open records advocates, who say that listening to 911 calls can provide valuable information about how emergency services handled a critical incident. The Georgia House Bill 1322 was specifically introduced to exempt crime scene photos from the state’s open records law, but a legislator  introduced an amendment adding 911 calls to the list of exempted records. Under the bill, “audio or video recordings of the personal suffering of a person in physical pain or distress” would be exempt from the state’s open records law. The House passed a different version of the bill, and a committee will reconcile the differences before final House-Senate votes on the bill. Download (pdf) the full bill here.

There’s another reason that public safety dispatchers might receive 911 calls, both accidentally and on purpose—the ZOMM. The mother of three children, Laurie Penix, noticed her children were losing their cellular phones, and so came up with a key fob device to sound an alert if the phone goes out of Bluetooth range of the fob. The device also “rings” for incoming calls, and includes a pushbutton to automatically dial 911. Specifically, when the panic button is pushed continuously, the ZOMM connects to your cellular phone via Bluetooth, dials 911, and then plays a pre-recorded message. At that point, the ZOMM’s speakerphone feature is activated so the user and dispatcher can talk to each other. The company points out that the 911 is generated only after a continuous press of the panic button, and only after the audible panic alarm is activated briefly to alert the user a 911 will be placed. The $80 is available for pre-order now, with a May delivery. Find more information about ZOMM here.

A woman who crashed into a tree while trying to avoid a deer on a rural Michigan highway was killed by a passing vehicle while on the phone with a state police dispatcher. The vehicle did not stop, and police are looking for the driver. Erica Sevigny, 26, had left work early at about midnight because she was ill, and seriously damaged her fiancé’s pick-up truck when it struck a tree along the Kent County road. She dialed 911, sheriff’s officials say, and gave information to a dispatcher. The call was cut-off, and Sevigny called back to give more information. But within seconds, Sevigny screamed and then there was silence. Deputies who had been enroute to the location found her dead on the roadway and the passing vehicle gone. It’s not clear from news accounts what safety information the state police dispatcher might have given Sevigny during the call, but the dispatcher did ask Sevigny if she was out of the vehicle.

An iPhone owner in peril can now send a “Help” message and their location to friends or family using a free app from the iTunes Store, but the software may rely too much on the Internet as a way of sending critical information. The Silent Bodyguard app works on both the iPhone and iPad touch, and will send an e-mail and SMS message to your pre-programmed list of three contacts once every 60 seconds when activated. The app shares many of the limitations of text-messaging 911, which has been promoted by some as an essential NextGen 911 feature. The Silent Bodyguard app is endorsed by former FBI profiled Clinton Van Sant and—oddly—by a long list of organizations that includes the UCLA Russian Club. Van Sant says many of the hundreds of kidnap and missing person cases he’s investigated, “could have been resolved successfully” if the victims had some way of making a silent notification of their distress and location. However, even developer Fun at Work LLC admits some limitations of the app that might affect its live-saving capabiliites and complicate the response of comm centers. read more

A woman who was murdered and pushed from a car lay along Interstate 90 in Cleveland for at least 90 minutes after a patrol officer mistook the body for a deer, and despite four 911 calls reporting the victim. The city’s public safety director, Martin Flask, said the officers neglected their duties and an investigation is underway. Angel Bradley-Crockett was first reported at 4:30 a.m. by a passing motorist who described it as a male or a mannequin. However, two officers in the patrol unit assigned to the incident reported that it was “a possible deer on the side of the road and ODOT was notified.” A vehicle tracking device showed the patrol car was going 40-50 mph when it passed the woman’s body, officials said. Immediately after their disposition, they requested a lunch break from the dispatcher, who granted it. Over an hour later a second caller stopped along the highway, examined the body, dialed 911 and told a dispatcher that it was a nude, black woman’s body. It wasn’t until 6:30 a.m. that officers arrived to examine the crime scene. The coroner says that Bradley-Crockett had been strangled and was the victim of blunt force trauma. Police union president Steve Loomis said of the officers, “They made a mistake. No doubt about it,” and that both officers expect to be disciplined. Read more about the incident here, and listen (mp3) to the 911 calls and radio traffic.[audio:http://mp3.911dispatch.com.s3.amazonaws.com/cleveland_highway_murder.mp3]

By a 7-1 vote, the board of the Deschutes County (Ore.) 911 District has fired comm center director Becky McDonald, saying she lied to them about an inappropriate relationship she had with the husband of a county dispatcher, and that the workplace had suffered from the incident. McDonald is a 15-year veteran of the agency, joining as a calltaker, and was appointed director three years ago. Last year an unnamed dispatcher filed a worker’s compensation claim, saying the workplace had become hostile for here because of McDonald’s relationship with her husband. McDonald first denied the relationship, but then later admitted it, according to 911 board members. She says both women were separated from their husbands when the relationship occurred. McDonald was put on paid administrative leave last year after the situation was revealed. At a hearing yesterday, the board members individually explained their votes, which legally could only be for reinstatement or termination. Most said McDonald lost their trust through giving different versions of the situation. McDonald has the right to appeal, and her attorney said she intends to do that. Read a news account here.

Somewhere, someone might be chuckling at the April Fool’s prank that a Missoula County (Mont.) dispatcher played on fire and EMS crews, sending them to a report of an explosion at a local oil refinery. But it’s definitely not Sheriff Mike McMeekin. He said an investigation continues into who was involved among the several on-duty dispatchers and exactly how far emergency units went in their response to the 8:30 a.m. radio dispatch on April 1st. He also said he is evaluating if any crime occurred as a result of the prank. McMeekin believes the stunt originated with a single dispatcher he declined to name, and that other dispatchers were aware of it, but did not actively participate. County emergency services director Bob Reid said after the investigation, his department will decide if any discipline is necessary.

Both Motorola and Harris Corp. submitted bids last year to build and maintain a new radio system for the city of Cleveland (Ohio), but last week mayor Frank Jackson delayed the two-year project when he threw out both bids, saying the city’s requirements for radios wasn’t crafted narrowly enough. The 1995-era radio system is prone to problems, and maintenance is difficult, city officials say. The mayor refused to immediately release details of either bid, although Harris Corp. had earlier said publicly that it proposed upgrading the city’s current Motorola system for $17 million, and upgrading other city agency radios later, when the city could afford it. Read more about the city’s long road to a better radio system here.

In the aftermath of several high-profile crashes believed to be caused by unanticipated acceleration of Toyota vehicles, a national protocol group has issued a set of instructions dispatchers can give 911 callers who report they cannot stop their runaway vehicle. The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAEMD) are allowing any agency to use the protocols under a limited license that includes pre-use dispatcher training. The protocols include instructions to get the vehicle into neutral (N), to turn off the engine, and bring the car to a stop at a safe location. The protocol is manufacturer-neutral, and includes suggestions for both key and button-operated ignition systems. You can read about the protocol and access the links to the PDF format cards here.

An Adams County (Wash.) sheriff’s dispatcher who says she was Taser’d on-duty in Jan. 2007 by a corrections officer is now suing the county, claiming she was the target of on-going harassment after the incident that included other sworn employees pointing Tasers at her. Jeanette Ivan says she reported the Taser incident to her supervisor, but that, “He thought it was humorous.” Ivan’s lawsuit says that others in the sheriff’s department learned of the original incident, the Tasering became a workplace “joke,” and co-workers and supervisors began a campaign of harassment. “Most prevalent and disturbing,” the lawsuit states, “was the continued use of tasers to frighten and intimidate plaintiff.” The lawsuit says deputies pointed Tasers at her “several times a day,” and one jail commander did so while asking her, “Are you scared bitch?” The lawsuit claims that incident was witnessed by the undersheriff, but no action was ever taken. She complained to supervisors and provided specific dates, times and personnel names, but the lawsuit claims the supervisors took no action. With the harassment continuing and no action being taken, Ivan resigned in May 2009. The lawsuit asks for damages, saying Ivan suffered “past, present and future pain and suffering, both physical and emotional.” Download (pdf) the full lawsuit here.

An Albany (Geo.) man said he chased a suspicious car for over 30 minutes while talking to a dispatcher because his neighborhood had been plagued with burglaries and, “I’m so sick of this crap.” Officers never caught up to him, although they did later contact the driver. Now police say they’ll investigate how the incident was handled, but insist the dispatcher properly instructed the caller to stop his 50 mph pursuit of the car because it was too dangerous. Assistant city manager Wes Smith noted that the caller gave the license plate of the vehicle, and that it was being reported only for as suspicious—not directly involved in any type of crime. Smith said police could have handled the incident, without putting other citizens in danger from a pursuit. But the motorist responded, “It’s time somebody started catching them and I’m going to help.” Read more about the incident here.

In the wake of several response delays, attorneys for victims are looking at how much overtime the city of Chicago is paying its dispatchers each year, saying it bolsters their claim that the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) is severely understaffed. According to payroll records, the city spent $4.5 million on OEC overtime, compared to $5.9 million in 2008, within an overall OEC annual budget of about $92 million. But dispatcher Archie Tiner was paid $90,000 in overtime, in addition to his regular $77,748 pay (about 1,600 hours?). The records show that 59 other dispatchers were paid at least $20,000 in overtime during 2009, including two who made $85,711 and $78,508 in overtime. OEC officials say that this year’s overtime is down 40 percent from the same period of 2009. They say there were 38 vacancies in the staff of 542 last year, or about a seven percent vacancy rate. This year there are 48 vacancies, pushing the rate up to almost nine percent. The city has made several lawsuit payouts in the past three years related to response delays. Read more about the OEC staffing situation here.

It may be a smaller university campus, but police officers at Florida International University (FIU) say their radio needs are no less critical. That’s why they’ve been complaining since 2006 about poor coverage and system outages on their 470 MHz radio system. The problems were spotlighted during the recent on-campus murder of an FIU football player. “You might as well get two cans and a string,” said Miami-Dade police union president John Rivera. He said officers are particularly concerned about the lack of a feature to prevent officers from talking over each other during an emergency, which occurred during the latest murder incident. A local TV station documented many complaints about the radio system over the last four years, including a lack of interoperability with surrounding agencies—Miami and Dade County use separate 800 MHz trunked systems. Read more about the complaints here.

The annual week dedicated to the nation’s public safety is approaching—National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week (NTW) begins a week from this Sunday. And there is no better way to show your appreciation for your comm center’s dispatchers and help support dispatchers-in-need than to buy logo merchandise from the 911CARES support organization. Operated by veteran public safety trainer Kevin Willett, 911CARES provides assistance to comm centers and dispatchers who have suffered a financial loss, who are grieving the death of a co-worker or loved one, or who need other assistance to get through a tough time. To help support those efforts, 911CARES is marketing a wide range of clothing, hats, bags, mugs and water bottles, pens, pins and jewelry and other logo gear for NTW. 911CARES says there’s still time to buy and have your merchandise delivered for NTW, and some items cost just $1. You can also directly donate to 911CARES to support their outreach efforts. Recognize your own dispatchers, and support others—start your shopping here.

A group of nine Michigan men who formed an anti-government extremist group were planning to kill a police officer, possibly lured to an ambush location by a 911 call, and then attack the resulting officer’s funeral in order to kill more officers, according to a federal indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Detroit yesterday. The plan emphasizes the critical nature of the 911 calltaking process by dispatchers, and raises questions about how to combat such hoax calls. Eight men were arrested by heavily-armed FBI teams over the weekend, and a ninth was arrested on Monday. Federal officials say the men called their group “Hutaree,” but aren’t clear on the group’s exact motives for the attacks. The indictment states the group considers local and state law enforcement officers their enemies, and that they intended to wage a war against them. The nine were charged with seditious conspiracy, attempting to use weapons of mass destruction, teaching/demonstrating the use of explosive materials, and carrying, using and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. They are jailed at a federal Detroit facility. read more