Leaping far beyond American plans to improve highway safety, the European Union (EU) is urging member nations to speed up voluntary adoption of eCall, a system of automatic emergency notification after a vehicle crash, saying it could save 2,500 lives a year. In 2005 the EU commission called upon telecom providers, vehicle manufacturers and public agencies to develop and install the necessary equipment to enable eCall by 2009. The commission issued a reminder again in 2006. But now, the EU commission says, “So far the system is not operational in any EU country.” The commission has re-set the clock on the adoption of eCall, calling for systems in all nation’s by 2014. Download (pdf) the latest description of eCall here. In an unrelated development, negotiations between Hughes Telematics and car company Chrysler to install gear in several vehicle models have failed to reach an agreement. Chrysler was to have included Hughes gear in their cars by the end of this year.

A strange set of circumstances has led to the resignation of a DeSoto Parish (La.) Sheriff’s dispatcher, and to the discovery that she has a previous criminal history. Enika Friesenhahn had an active felony warrant for check fraud in San Antonio (Tex.), one that had been active since 1976. Sheriff’s officials said the warrant was discovered by chance: Friesenhahn was off sick, and her co-workers asked a sheriff’s sergeant to check on her. When the sergeant arrived, he wasn’t sure of the address, so he ran the license plate of a car parked in the driveway. When he read the “hit,” it included the warrant information. Confronted with the warrant, Friesenhahn chose to resign. However, a month later, she appealed her decision to the county’s personnel board, asking to return to work. However, comm center director Bruce Vanderhoeven researched Friesenhahn’s past, and discovered other incidents: a 1985 obscenity arrest, two DWI arrests and a 2005 failed drug test. The board declined to re-hire Friesenhahn. Read more here.

Jurors from adjacent Bartow County (Geo.) are hearing testimony in the trial of Sam Parker, accused of murdering Walker County sheriff’s dispatcher Theresa Parker in March 2007. Parker disappeared and her body has never been found, but the prosecutor believes he has enough evidence to convict Parker, a former LaFayette police officer. Publicity about the case, including weeks of searching by sheriff’s deputies and citizens, convinced the Superior Court judge to use jurors from another county, although the trial is being held in LaFayette. So far, testimony has laid out that the Parkers were in the process of a divorce, and Teresa was moving from LaFayette to Fort Oglethorpe. A former LaFayette officer testified that Sam Parker told him he shot Parker in the head and buried her, “in a place that no one can find.” Ben Chaffin said Parker threatened to kill him if he ever told anyone about the murder. Various witnesses have about Sam Parker’s suspicions that his wife was having an affair and of threats that Sam Parker made. A Walker County dispatcher testified about calls she took from Sam Parker, and logging tapes were played during which Parker speculated that Teresa was having an affair. The trial is being extensively covered by the Walker County Messenger newspaper, including stories and in-court videos.

A woman being threatened by her ex-boyfriend sped down a Sarasota (Fla.) street at 70 mph, trying to get away from him, and dialed 911 for help. Within 40 seconds of answering the call, the dispatcher heard noise on the line–the moment that Rebecca Provencher ran a stop sign and crashed into a Sarasota police patrol car, injuring the officer. Provencher was ejected from her car and suffered serious injuries, but she should survive. Police arrested the ex-boyfriend, Eddie L. Smith, who had pointed a gun at the woman and rammed her car several times. The officer suffered a broken wrist. The incident is similar to one in June 2008 when a woman being chased by her ex-boyfriend, and was then shot and killed in the parking lot of the Plantation (Fla.) police department. In that case, police said the dispatcher gave Olidia Day correct advice, but that the suspect was determined to kill her. Listen to the latest 911 call. here

Nothing is the same after 100 years, and former Birmingham (Ala.) police dispatcher Claude Gray says that applies to comm centers, too. He joined the police department in 1933, and returned to the comm center Wednesday to celebrate his recent birthday and the department’s first radio broadcast to police officers. On June 10, 1933 Gray turned on the transmitter for the first time, and then broadcast the time and the callsign WPFM. There were 10 patrol cars and one motorcycle equipped with radios at the time. “What we have today was built on the shoulders of people like Mr. Gray,” said police Capt. William Brewer, who oversees the department’s Support Systems Bureau. By the way, the first official broadcast was a stolen vehicle alert to all units, followed by a message for the patrol sergeant to meet the captain at the city garage. Read more here, and see a 1930 photo of Mr. Gray here,. See a photo of Mr. Gray after the break. read more

A Vonage telephone subscriber in Durham County (SC) dialed 911 to report a fatal fire last Monday, and the dispatcher who answered the call typed in the wrong address, sending fire units to an address 13 miles away. The mistake was caught about six minutes after dispatch, and it took fire units another six minutes to arrive at the correct location. By then, the house was engulfed and the occupant, Marvin Jacobs, 74, perished in the fire. Sheriff’s officials said the 3-year veteran dispatcher entered the location as “Chanticleer Drive” instead of the correct location, “Shantercliff Place,” despite the caller spelling out the correct street name three times during the call. They said the caller was using a Vonage-based telephone, and the address of the caller wasn’t displayed to the dispatcher. An investigation is underway into the cause of the fire and the 911 call handling. Listen to the 911 call. here

This week’s annual APCO conference in Las Vegas (Nev.) has generated several press releases from companies announcing news about their products and services. You can routinely check the “Company News” section using the link in the left column, or use this link.

A long article in the national USA Today newspaper makes a case that the nation’s 911 systems are straining to handle wireless 911 calls, and that technical glitches have resulted in “many” incidents have resulted in delayed responses and deaths. The story includes references to the death of a Johns Creek (Geo.) woman, and seems to imply her death was the result of a 911 system problem. However, Fulton County officials fired a dispatcher for mishandling the incident, adding that the woman had a 2,100-page personnel file that included other mishandled incidents and discipline. Read a complete editorial review of the USA Today story and a “fact check” of its claims here.

A former Rochester (NY) police dispatcher has pleaded guilty to illegally accessing protected computer systems, and faces up to one year in jail when she’s sentenced in October. Nadire Zelanaj was fired in Dec. 2007 after police discovered that she was accessing a federal “watch list” using computer links in the comm center. According to police, she accessed the watch list 232 times between Jan. 2006 and Dec. 2007. There has never been any explanation of why she was accessing the watch list, or what she did with any information that she obtained.

In the wake of the death of three Pittsburgh (Penn.) police officers last April, the combined city-Allegheny County comm center is struggling to stay afloat, according to a newspaper’s investigation. It’s difficult to retain staff, with 10 dispatchers fired this year, and another 20 to 25 leaving on their own. A 10 year-old computer system limits the information available to dispatchers. The only bright spot is that the rate of complaints filed with the comm center seems to be slightly below similarly-sized comm centers in the region. Read more about the center here.

Recording technology company NICE Systems Inc. has announced the recipients of its annual PSAP Finest Awards, recognizing individuals from coast-to-coast. The awards were announced in 2006, and are based on peer nominations for, “exemplary achievements, depth of knowledge, innovative thinking, involvement and years of service to public safety,” the company says. A panel of judges from the public safety community selects the recipients. This years “Finest” are:

• Director of the Year (tie): Peter W. Meade, 
Assistant Fire Marshal for Fire & Rescue Services, 
Nassau County Fire Communications (
Mineola, NY), Steve Souder, Director, 
Fairfax County (Virg.) 
Department of 9-1-1 / Public Safety Communications
• Line Supervisor of the Year (tie): Stephanie Trueblood, 
Shift Supervisor, 
Kitsap County (Wash.) Central Communications /9-1-1; Carolyn Cornejo, 
Public Safety Dispatcher III, 
Oxnard (Calif.) Police/Fire Communications
• Technician of the Year: Rick Archuleta, 
Communications Technician III, 
Monterey County (Calif.)
• Telecommunicator of the Year: Benjamin Adams, 
Police Communications Technician, 
Columbus (Ohio) Police Department

Find more information here.

Late Friday night, Calgary (Alb.) public safety dispatchers reached a tentative agreement on a new union contract, easing concerns that the workers would go on strike. Last week the dispatchers voted 9-to-1 to approve a strike if negotiations on the contract were unsuccessful. The proposed contract must now be approved by the union members.

A group of 30 public safety, education and service organizations has formed a consortium to share information and seek funding to deploy broadband technology for communications. The Next Generation Safety Consortium (NGSC) will help, “raise awareness and demonstrate the significant benefits of broadband for emergency response,” the group said in a press release. Among the member groups is NENA, and its president Brian Fontes explained that broadband has “empowered millions of consumers and businesses across the county. The same revolution is needed in the world of 9-1-1 and emergency response.” Several government agencies have also joined the group, including from Minnesota, Texas, Washington, Alabama, Indiana, South Dakota and Montana. As a first step, on behalf of the group NENA will submit a broadband proposal to the NTIA. Find more information at the group’s Web site.

Public safety software company InterAct Public Safety Systems announced that it has purchased the law enforcement division of BIO-key International (NJ), a company providing mobile data applications for public safety agencies. The $11 million purchase will make InterAct the largest public safety software company in the country, the company claims, with over 2,000 customers on three continents. InterAct signed an agreement in 1999 to integrate and market BIO-key’s mobile applications with its own CAD, RMS and other software, including MobileCop, PocketCop, MobileRescue and MobileOffice. Under the new purchase, the BIO-key division will become InterAct911 Mobile Systems Inc., and could be finalized by year’s end. InterAct has posted a Web page explaining how the purchase will affect customers of the two companies here.

The annual conference of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) begins on Monday in Las Vegas, and will spotlight the group’s annual award recipients for “the highest levels of personal and professional conduct and performance in the line of duty.” Coincidentally, with over 5,000 PSAPs in the country, two of the recipients are from the same agency–the Grays Harbor (Wash.) Communications E9-1-1 center. Loanne Travess will receive the Telecommunicator of the Year award during the conference, and Scott Sipe will be named Technologist of the Year. The awards are particularly noteworthy, since just two years ago a county investigation of a missing person incident uncovered serious management, policy and chain of command issues at the center. According to a 528-page report, the missing woman from Beaverton (Ore.) was reported as a DUI driver, but was not located until 11 days later, when her car and body were found on a rural forestry road. The investigation found that dispatchers properly handled the incident, and no one was disciplined. The victim’s husband filed a lawsuit last Dec. against the city of Beaverton, state of Oregon and Grays Harbor County alleging negligence in handling the incident. Download (pdf) the full lawsuit here.