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Monday, January 5 2009 |
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As proof that dispatching really does matter, a 20 year-old Indianapolis (Ind.) woman was struck and killed by a police car responding to a report of intruders at an occupied home. Two female relatives had a dispute at a local bar, and one of them then returned home. The other relative followed and threw a flower pot through the window of the other woman's house, prompting the 12 year-old daughter to dial 911 for help. Instead of being reported as vandalism, the incident was broadcast to officers as "intruders," and officers responded, including the one who unsuccessfully swerved to avoid the victim. Read more about the incident here. |
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Sunday, January 4 2009 |
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The wife of Somerset County (Penn.) comm center supervisor Joel Landis felt her house shake as if hit by an earthquake--it wasn't. Instead, the house in Berlin was hit by a truck whose driver lost control on icy roads and veered off the pavement at 2:14 a.m. The accident generated several 911 calls--which went straight to Landis and his co-workers. Fortunately the truck hit the home's substantial, 4-foot high concrete front porch, limiting damage to two bedrooms. Landis' pregnant wife Tiffany wasn't injured. The driver was arrested for DUI. [Landis was certified the week before by the state's emergency management agency.] |
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Friday, January 2 2009 |
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A long article in the Globe and Mail newspaper concluded that the nation's 911 system is lagging behind the United States in technology. The newspaper points out that Winnipeg was the first North American city with a three-digit emergency telephone number, and a budget only large enough to hire women to staff the telephones. The 999 number debuted in the region in June 1959. Read more about the past and current 911 here. |
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Friday, January 2 2009 |
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The husband of a LaPorte County (Ind.) prosecutor dialed 911 to report that his wife had been accidentally shot. The logging tape of the call shed some light on the incident, which sheriff's and prosecutor's officials would not comment upon. During the call, the husband of Jennifer Evans explained the couple had hidden firearms when they left the children in charge of a babysitter. When they returned home, they were retrieving the weapons when one accidentally discharged, grazing Evans in the head. Evens was recently re-elected last November and was sworn in this week, appearing in good health. Listen to the 911 calls here. |
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Friday, January 2 2009 |
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Upper Darby police are investigating the murder of state police dispatcher Amber Jackson, and say that her estranged boyfriend is a suspect. Jackson, 20, had moved back in with her parents in Drexel Hill, and arrived home last Tuesday night to find Freddie Cleveland outside. An argument followed, and led inside the house where police say Cleveland stabbed Jackson to death as her 13 year-old sister hid in a closet. Police arrived shortly to find Jackson savagely stabbed, and Cleveland unconscious with a stab wound, possibly self-inflicted. The sister was uninjured. Read more here. |
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Friday, January 2 2009 |
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After a response delay that ended with a woman's death, Lee County (Fla.) officials are rechecking their mapping system to find missing addresses, including at least 20 trailer parks that are invisible to the system. Last spring a man called to say his wife was having complications from surgery, and tried to give a county dispatcher directions to the trailer home. But the dispatcher told him, "Rght, they'll find you sir they'll find you. Don't worry." But the EMS units were delayed because their mapping system didn't show the trailer home's location, and the woman later died. Read more and listen to the 911 call here (phone number and address deleted on the audio). |
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Friday, January 2 2009 |
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Putnam County (Fla.) sheriff's deputies have arrested a man who they say paid to have his wife murdered, and then dialed 911 to report the incident as a robbery-gone-bad. Clint Horvatt, 32, claimed in a December 2008 911 call that he pulled over to help a stranded motorist, but that person then displayed a gun, robbed them and shot his wife-to-be when she resisted. Horvatt's story varied, and deputies eventually found the couple's wallet and purse buried in Horvatt's back yard. The sheriff's department has now released the logging tape of the 911 call--listen to it here. |
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Friday, January 2 2009 |
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Kudos to Flint (Mich.) dispatchers Kelly Claybrooks and Natalie Money, who handled a 911 call from a woman who said her boyfriend who had called her and was short of breath. The 63 year-old man was running a generator after the power went out from high winds, and he was being poisoned by carbon monoxide. Unfortunately, the girlfriend gave the wrong address for the house, so Claybrooks and Money had to methodically ask her how she would drive to the man's house. They also obtained the man's cellular phone number, which led to his address. Thirty minutes later firefighters broke into the home to find the man unconscious, but were able to revive him.
Interim police chief David Dicks said the dispatchers will receive a commendation. |
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Tuesday, December 30 2008 |
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When his 10 year-old brother fell through the ice at Topeka (Kan.) park pond, 7 year-old Jayson Akins-Bomoff grabbed a cellular phone from his cousin and dialed 911 for help. The fire department arrived within four minutes to rescue the brother, who fell through the ice while trying to retrieve a remote control airplane. The brother was taken to the hospital to recover and suffered no permanent injuries. Read more about the incident here, and listen to the 911 call here. |
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Monday, December 29 2008 |
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The Internet is a collection of electronic pathways that extend around the globe and to every point, but it's really applications that are the driving force. Beyond the World Wide Web and e-mail, there are scores of methods of communicating and transmitting information, although not all equally meaningful. One of the hot applications now is Twitter, a way of sending up to 140 words out onto the Internet to let others know what you're doing, and a way of following the so-called "Tweets" of others. It may seem limited and it may seem useless to some, but there's an entire community that's addicted to Twitter. And one of its users is tech-Los Angeles firefighter Brian Humphrey, who does public safety information for the agency. He's wired in to the Internet in several ways, especially with a Twitter feed of LAFD activities. Take a look at his Tweets and consider if Twitter might help your agency. |
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Monday, December 29 2008 |
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A pair of articles in the Times-Herald newspaper says that the Vallejo (N. Calif.) police-fire comm center is operating in crisis mode, mainly because the city is nearly broke, officers have been leaving the department and there are not enough resources to handle the incoming calls for service. Two dispatchers handle radio, leaving one to answer telephones, transferring non-emergency calls to voicemail and telling crime victims to report their incident using a Web form. There are just 19 dispatchers to cover all the comm center shifts. Read more about the situation here, and then read a citizen's complaints about the service here. |
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Sunday, December 28 2008 |
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A group of Chicago (Ill.) dispatchers jumped at the chance to play Santa Claus to a family on Christmas eve after receiving a 911 call from a child who said he didn't have any food or toys for Christmas. Dispatcher Pamela Jenkins recognized the genuine nature of the call she answered--she's a 13-year veteran and a part-time teacher. Jenkins alerted other dispatchers, who messaged officers, who confirmed the family's plight. Within 30 minutes they had raised $200 and…well, read a wonderful holiday story here. |
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Sunday, December 28 2008 |
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The dispatcher who mishandled a 911 call from the apartment of Madison (Wisc.) murder victim Brittany Zimmermann last April has been suspended for three days without pay. Dane County 911 officials made the announcement on Friday, nine months after former dispatcher Rita Gahagan answered the call and failed to hear noises that officials say should have alerted her to the need to send police. No officers were dispatched in response to the call, and Zimmermann's boyfriend found her dead just hours later. No suspect has been identified by police. In a statement, 911 officials said Gahagan authorized the release of her personnel file after a lawsuit to compel its release, including the nature of the disciplinary action. In the disciplinary action, 911 director Kathy Krusiec said there was, "no evidence that Gahagan heard but chose not to react to sounds possibly indicating an emergency." Instead, Krusiec attributed Gahagan's actions to an "unintentional oversight." Gahagan is now working for the county's child support agency, a transfer she requested before the incident occurred. Her personnel file shows generally good performance since she was hired in 1988. A judge has ruled that the 911 call is confidential, as its release could jeopardize the on-going criminal investigation. Read more about the incident here, and more about Gahagan's personnel file here. |
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Sunday, December 28 2008 |
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The city of Covina (S. Calif.) is still in shock over the shooting and arson murder of nine persons attending a Christmas party. The suspect appeared at the home dressed as Santa Claus and opened fire with at least two handguns, and sprayed the interior of the house with high-octane fuel from a pressurized container. He later rigged his car with explosives, drove to his brother's house and fatally shot himself. Several persons dialed 911 to report the shooting and fire, and Covina police have released a logging tape of the calls. Listen to the calls here. |
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Friday, December 26 2008 |
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Louisville (Ken.) police officers responded to a burglar alarm at a fastfood restaurant, and chased the burglars' getaway car. The chase ended and two suspects fled. Officers captured one, but the second suspect doubled back, hopped into an empty police car and sped off. The chase eventually crossed over the Interstate 65 bridge into Jeffersonville (Ind.), where the suspect drove the car into the Ohio River, came out of the car armed with a handgun, and was shot by officers. Listen to a 14-minute tape of the LPD radio transmissions from a newspaper's scanner here (the radio is scanning several channels, so you'll hear different dispatchers at times). |
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Wednesday, December 24 2008 |
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On Christmas Eve, the FCC postponed the date by which the 800 MHz transition administrator (TA) must "true-up" the costs for the transition and the value of the 1.9 GHz spectrum the FCC allocated to Sprint/Nextel. Originally, the date was to have been Dec. 26th. The true-up involves comparing the transition costs and the spectrum value, and then determining if Sprint owes a so-called "windfall payment" if the transition cost is less. In its latest Order, the FCC acknowledged the delays in implementing the 800 MHz transition, and moving certain broadcast transmitters in the 1.9 GHz band. They ordered that the financial reconciliation now occur by June 1, 2009. Download (pdf) the full Order here. |
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