When a San Francisco regional transit police officer fired a single shot from his pistol, killing a patron on New Year’s Day 2009, there was barely a clue for the radio dispatcher that something significant had occurred. Johannes Mehserle resigned from  the BART police department shortly after the shooting, and he was later charged with second-degree murder by the district attorney. Last Friday a Los Angeles jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and various court documents were released, including the transcript of the incident’s radio broadcasts. The incident began with a fight on a moving train, which then stopped at an Oakland station. Officers were dispatched to the station, arrived and confront several men on the station platform. “Code 3 medical,” was the first radio call indicating trouble. “We have a gunshot wound victim,” an officer radioed. But there are few other details in subsequent broadcasts, including no mention that an officer has fired his weapon, or that there are no other suspects being sought. Even a lieutenant’s question about other suspects is answered only with, “Negative.” Download (pdf) the radio transcript here and consider if it provides the radio dispatcher or other officer with enough information to guide their responses.

A former Lincoln (Neb.) emergency dispatcher’s appeal of her termination has been denied by a federal appeals court, which ruled that the city did not violate provisions of federal law intended to protect those with disabilities or the need to take family medical leave. Instead, the court ruling said the city based its decision on the dispatcher’s ability to perform specific and required job functions. Charlene Wisbey was a 28-veteran of the agency when she exhausted her accumulated sick leave in early 2007. She then applied for leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) based on anxiety and depression. She obtained a doctor’s certification saying she could perform her job functions, but would have to take intermittent leave over the next six months “or longer.” The city questioned her ability to perform the job, ordered a fitness-for-duty exam, and then concluded she was unfit for duty. She was fired in April 2007 based on the city doctor’s opinion. A federal District Court ruled for the city, and in Wisbey’s appeal of that decision, the federal Court of Appeals agreed that the city neither discriminated against her under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), nor fired her for taking FMLA leave. Download (pdf) the court’s documents here (Wisbey’s plea, the earlier District Court summary judgement for the city, and the recent Appeals Court ruling).

Officials in the Village of Southampton (NY) have issued a new regulation that sets out appropriate use of police computers after a reporter’s tip led to the discovery of pornographic photos and chat session logs. Police chief William Wilson Jr. began an investigation immediately after receiving the tip last April, and the next day an unnamed dispatcher resigned citing personal reasons. The next week, a sergeant filed papers for retirement. Wilson said investigators later found a sexually explicit video and several photos on a computer used exclusively by one employee, and similar e-mail messages and chat logs on two shared computers. The dispatcher reportedly was a three-year employee, with six years at another police department. Wilson would not name either departing employee, but the 27East Web site did name the female dispatcher, who told a reporter that her departure was related to child care. Both employees worked the 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. shift. Wilson said the new policy sets out the department’s right to review all data on its computers, and that accessing or sending sexually explicit materials, or downloading/importing files is prohibited. Read more about the incident here (read the comments) and about the employees here.

A California appeals court has upheld the conviction of a man who made 40 harassing 911 calls to a Palm Springs police department dispatcher over several hours, saying the dispatcher did not need to physically confront the suspect in order to legally make a citizen’s arrest. Craig Bloom used profanity, screamed into the phone and “babbled,” police say, and the dispatchers tracked him to a pay phone. After he continued to call, and the dispatchers began hanging up on him, one of them signed a citizen’s arrest form and sent officers to the pay phone. Officers confronted Bloom, who admitted making the calls and then resisted arrest. He was jailed, but appealed his subsequent conviction, claiming the officer’s didn’t legally execute the citizens arrest because the dispatcher wasn’t physically present. But the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled the offense was made in the dispatcher’s “presence,” which includes handling the phone call. They also said her physical presence wasn’t required, given Bloom’s mental state and her need to be present for official duties. Download (pdf) the court’s ruling here.

Along the road to making the nation’s wireless spectrum more efficiently used, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has posted a “Go Slow-er” sign. The Commission has accepted a petition by a public safety radio group to delay certain deadlines regarding its long-term plan to require public safety and other users of the 150-174 MHz and 421-512 MHz bands to begin using radio gear that uses a narrower slice of the spectrum. The FCC’s so-called “narrowbanding” project would end use of 25 kHz channels, in favor of 12.5 kHz and eventually 6.25 KHz channels. In a petition filed by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council last September, the group suggested moving back an interim January 2011 deadline, saying it was too soon and would hamper public safety operations and increase costs to agencies that were trying to comply with the final 2013 deadline. In its order, the FCC moved back a deadline to end the import or manufacture of 25 kHz gear, but retained the deadline on prohibiting 25 kHz gear certifications. The FCC also maintained the final 2013 deadline. Download (pdf) the FCC’s official order with deadline explanations here.

A decision by a Lowell (Mass.) 911 dispatcher to cancel the fire department response to an EMS incident created a delay in gaining entry to the apartment at an independent-living apartment, where an elderly woman was found unresponsive by a fire crew, 66 minutes after she pressed her medical alert device. Now after an extensive investigation, officials say they’ve fired dispatcher Jason Lumenello and re-trained other personnel to prevent a similar incident from occurring. Lumenello had been a part-time dispatcher since 1999, and went full-time in February 2009. According to an investigation, Lumenello fielded a call from the alarm company, and created an EMS incident in CAD. However, he immediately cancelled the fire department portion of the response, and sent only an ambulance crew. When the medics arrived, they talked to the woman through the door, but couldn’t gain entry to the apartment. They requested the fire department, but the arriving fire crew discovered they didn’t have a key to the complex’s lock box. They located a nursing supervisor who had a key, and when they entered the woman was unresponsive. She was transported to a hospital where she was declared dead. Download (pdf, 118 Mb) the investigative report here, and read more about the incident here.

A local Milwaukee (Wisc.) citizens’ advocacy group has turned its spotlight on the city’s public safety radio system, saying the OpenSky, trunked technology has taken seven years and $18 million to build, but leaves police without communications at critical times. The Citizens for Responsible Government group held a press conference last week to publicize a list of 250 official radio trouble reports filed by officers since the system went operational last February. The list includes one incident when an officer was shot. Police officials acknowledge the problems, but say the problems are being corrected, and are a small part of the 2 million transmissions the system has handled. Read more and the group’s work here, and watch a video of the group’s press conference here.

Proving that the issue of spectrum management and the FCC’s National Broadband Plan has reached an important level, President Obama has issued an official memorandum to the heads of government agencies ordering them to make available a total of 500 MHz of Federal and nonfederal spectrum over the next 10 years. The plan also includes auctioning the spectrum to raise revenues to fund communications projects, including a nation-wide public safety wireless network. In the memo, Obama noted the importance of expanded wireless access, and that it would, “will trigger the creation of innovative new businesses, provide cost-effective connections in rural areas, increase productivity, (and) improve public safety.” The memo puts the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in charge of managing the effort, and sets requirements for periodic reports. Read the memo here, some analysis of the president’s action here., and FCC chair Genachowski’s statement on the memo here (pdf). (more…)

Three men in a capsized boat off the coast of Sheboygan (Wisc.) were dumped into the cold water, and one managed to dial as he clung to the hull. However, his description of their location during an interrupted 911 call led the Coast Guard to search in the wrong location. One man died, while the other two were rescued when a helicopter spotted them. The call was answered by a dispatcher at the Sheboygan County sheriff’s comm center, and did not show any location since the call was made from an older cellular phone. The caller said, “We’re out on the lake” and, “We’re getting swamped.” When the dispatcher asked for their location, he said, “Straight out from the harbor—100 feet of water.” The call then ended seconds later. The unnamed dispatcher believed the incident was occurring within 100 feet of the city’s harbor, and relayed the information to a Sheboygan PD dispatcher. The Coast Guard was notified within two minutes, and began searching closer to shore. In fact, the caller meant the boat was in water 100 feet deep, which would be much further from shore. About 20 minutes later, the location was corrected and the Coast Guard moved the search further from shore. Read more about the incident and listen to the 911 call here. Update: After an investigation, sheriff’s dispatchers will now call the Coast Guard directly and immediately upon receiving a Sheboygan harbor incident, instead of calling the city police. The sheriff and police chief also issued a report that said “system shortcomings and human error” caused the delay, including the calltaker’s lack of knowledge about water depth in the Sheboygan area. Read about the investigation here.

In August of last year the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created a blog-like set of pages on its Web site focused on its plans to improve broadband in America. The topics have rarely touched on public safety until earlier this year, when the politics of the FCC’s plans became important. The latest entry contains quotes from various people endorsing the Commission’s plans for the D Block of radio spectrum, under the headline that began, “Momentum Building for FCC Plan…” The story by Dep. PSHS Bureau Chief Jennifer Manner used quotes, including from three former FCC officials. But one block of quotes is now missing from the original story. Verizon V-P and chief Counsel Steve Zipperstein was originally  quoted saying that, “Verizon Wireless supports the Commission’s recommendation and stands ready to work with public safety.” However, Zipperstein’s remarks weren’t made as an direct endorsement, but were stripped from his June 2010 testimony to a Congressional subcommittee about the broadband plan and posted in the FCC’s blog. Read the blog entry in its current form here, view how Zipperstein’s quotes were originally posted here, and then download (pdf) Zipperstein’s full testimony here for Verizon’s full position.

The group that is managing the FCC-mandated re-tuning of the public safety 800 MHz band has released an updated report setting out how how much it costs typical agencies, hoping that historical figures will help agencies whose re-tuning projects are still pending. The project’s Transition Administrator (TA) has approved 829 re-tuning projects since 2007, part of a plan to reduce interference in the band due to interleaved frequency assignments. The latest report breaks down costs by number of “subscriber units,” or radios, and by number of repeater sites. The cost figures are based on estimates by the license holder being re-tuned, and are analyzed by the TA before approval. The median estimates range from $35,141 for agencies with from one to 500 subscriber units, to $5.5 million for agencies with more than 10,000 units. For agencies with from 1001 to 2000 units, the largest costs are for actual unit reconfiguration, project management, engineering and legal expenses. Download (pdf) the updated report here.

A veteran Hernando County (Fla.) sheriff’s dispatcher was counseled within an hour of handling a 911 call during which she was allegedly sounded impatient with the caller, who was reporting a murder with the suspect still at the home. Jessica Vore is a 15-year dispatcher, and communications director Bill Kicklighter said Vore was a very conscientious employee. “She beats herself up more than we or the media ever could. She’s the type of employee that takes it to heart,” he said. The caller reported a shallow grave in her back yard, and that her brother had most likely killed her other brother. The caller’s father was uncovering the grave as the woman spoke to Vore in fear she might be killed. Kicklighter said Vore failed to assure the caller that deputies were enroute, and had her repeat several pieces of information. The reprimand goes in Vore’s personnel file, but will be removed if she doesn’t receive any other discipline within the next year. Read more about the incident here, and listen to the 911 call (60 seconds of caller information redacted).

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Several Massachusetts police and fire dispatchers have been caught up in a state-wide scandal involving falsification of EMS certificates by a training company. The state’s Department of Public Health said two instructors have admitted granting EMT and paramedic re-certifications to 213 persons, and did so as a favor to employees who didn’t have the time or money to take the state-required refresher courses. Among those whose certifications have been revoked for nine months are three town of Belmont dispatchers with EMT certificates, and a Billerica police dispatcher. Most of those suspended worked for private and public ambulance companies, but 74 were firefighters, police officers or other city/town employees. Read more about the situation here.

The Utah Supreme Court has upheld a DUI conviction of a man reported by his girlfriend through a 911 call, saying the caller provided enough reasonable suspicion as a witness to justify a sergeant’s stop of the suspect. The decision points out how comprehensive questioning during a 911 call can be a valuable legal asset after an arrest is made. Jose Roybal had appealed his 2005 conviction, claiming the dispatcher didn’t ask the girlfriend several key questions, including how much alcohol Roybal had consumed and over what period of time. The appeal also raised the issue of the girlfriend’s reliability, since she was involved in the incident However, the state Supreme Court ruled the 911 call information was sufficient to justify the stop. The girlfriend’s personal involvement, “neither weakens, nor strengthens,” her reliability, the court said. She gave her full name, provided first-hand observations and fully described the vehicle. “Once a reasonable suspicion is reached by the originator of the information–-in this case, the dispatcher–-the responding police officer is entitled to rely on the information unless the officer’s personal observations or interaction with the suspect present indications to the contrary,” the court wrote. Download (pdf) the Supreme Court and appellate court decisions here.

With over 100,000 telephone calls pouring in to the DeKalb County (Geo.) 911 center and one-third of dispatcher job positions unfilled, officials say dispatchers must work overtime to handle incidents and often don’t get bathroom breaks. Over 300 people applied to fill the vacant job positions, officials say, but it could take several months to process the applications, test, hire and train 38 new dispatchers and supervisors. A news account says six dispatchers were disciplined during a recent one-month period for various offenses, including arriving at work late. Read more about the staffing problems here.