MY BLOG: I hate to have to do this but.......

Friday, May 15, 2009

I hate to have to do this but.......

it's been asked and I guess it's something I need to do. That is, go over once again what we believe went wrong in the CCSO 9-1-1 center the night Denise died.

There were 5 9-1-1 calls made the night Denise died. The first from Nathan reporting her missing. This one was handled fine. One by an eyewitness's daughter. This was handled very well with the call taker thanking the young woman and telling her "we're looking for this girl". The third by an eyewitness. We won't go there about the witness but we will say the call was handled appropriately. The fourth? Made by Denise herself! This one was handled exceptionally well. You can hear the call taker multi tasking and professional sounding as she's calling North Port to make them aware of the call. She's not rattled at all. All four were handled by Sarasota County or North Port call centers.

The fifth call handled by the CCSO was where things went wrong. Here's what we believe happened according to their own internal investigation.

Because the operator who monitors the BOLO's (Be On the Look Out's) went home early (to save paying overtime) the machine basically went unmonitored (in our opinion) and 3 critical BOLO's were either totally ignored or responded to late. The two dispatchers on duty were supposed to monitor the machine every 5-10 minutes and one testifies she did so. Sadly, there is no documentation supporting this. And the deputies in the field received no information on 3 of the BOLO's. So, from the time the first BOLO received from the North Port Police department at 4:58PM to after 6:30PM deputies from the CCSO testify they were NOT looking for a green Camaro. As late as 6:45PM one deputy testifies there were "no real leads". So we have Sarasota County, North Port, the FHP, the FDLE, Manatee County, DeSoto County and countless other agencies searching for a green Camaro but not the CCSO which is where she was last seen alive.
It took the CCSO near 2 hours to patch a radio to neighboring Sarasota County
At 6:30 an eyewitness to Denise's kidnapping called in and had the call taker on the line for 9 minutes giving cross streets as to where she was witnessing the abduction in real time. The call taker was clearly rattled. She put the caller on hold. She told the caller people are "hollering" at her. She clearly didn't know what to do. She kept asking somebody for instructions. The call taker did not enter crucial 9-1-1 call information immediately into her CAD system. She wrote it down and shouted it across the aisle. She testifies she shouted it to dispatcher A. Dispatcher A and B testify she shouted it to Dispatcher B. It was over 13 minutes after the initiation of the call before she entered anything into the CAD. Those 13 minutes IMO were pretty crucial minutes.
Total chaos. Total procedural breakdown.
After the crucial 9-1-1 call I just mentioned, no car was ever dispatched to the area. There were several CCSO cars in the area with deputies who testify they were sitting by their computers WAITING for information that never came. They were never dispatched
The CCSO never contacted North Port who had jurisdiction in Denise's case about the phone call which was made by the last person to see Denise alive. They would have denied the prosecution their best witness. Thank goodness the witness was persistant in being heard.
It wasn't until after Rick (Denise's dad) and another officer from CCSO listened to Denise's frantic 9-1-1 call that the CCSO was aware of a green Camaro. It is only after Denise's frantic call that a call is made to the dispatch center by the officer who was with Rick that the dispatch center realizes they had issues and missed the BOLO's. It was at that moment the sh!t hit the fan and they forgot to dispatch the car.

Again this is in their own Internal Investigations Report.

What's been fixed?

The only thing I'm sure of and this information is from Sarasota County is that the two counties are now working closer together.

The radios seem to be fixed. I learned this from the newspaper after a false alarm abduction a few weeks ago.

Is the call taker no longer writing things down and is she finally using the CAD appropriately? I don't know. She'd been reprimanded before. Hopefully considering a life was lost she is.

Is the machine that monitors the BOLO's being monitored 24/7? Don't know.

Sorry to sound so cold. I'm at work and I really don't want to break down in tears.

That's it in a nutshell. Sorry to have to go through it all again. But someone asked me to.

Attn: Cell Phone Users

I'm adapting this from a pamphlet Mark picked up from the California NENA conference out in San Diego.

When Dialing 9-1-1 From Your Cell Phone

1. Call only for immediate emergency assistance - medical, fire, or police.

2. Be prepared to provide your location and any essential information the dispatcher may need.

3. Stay on the line until told to hang up. You may be transferred to another agency.

added edit

Cell phones cannot "text" 9-1-1. During the Virginia Tech massacre, many students tried texting 9-1-1 because they were afraid the killer would hear them.

Do not assume 9-1-1 can find you when using a cell phone. Cell phone signals go to the nearest "available" tower.

IMO, always call 9-1-1 in an emergency unless you are sure others have already called.

And, IMO, if you are distraught, if possible have a neighbor or other family member call 9-1-1 for you. They will most likely be able to listen and give clearer instructions.

Help Reduce Unnecessary Calls

Use non-emergency numbers for your local law enforcement agency when you do not need immediate assistance.

If medical, fire or police are already on scene, it is not necessary to call 9-1-1 again. Instead, call a non-emergency number if you have additional information and witnessed the incident.

Do not call 9-1-1 for non-emergecy incidents (i.e., requesting road conditions, asking why traffic is backed up, requesting driving directions, or other similar reasons). Be prepared; contact your local FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) office directly, using a non-emergency number.

Use or maintain a landline at home and at work for 9-1-1 calls, as the dispatcher is more likely to get accurate location information from a landline.

Using 9-1-1 in non-emergency situations prevents critical emergencies from being attended to.

DID YOU KNOW?

Almost everyone in the U.S. owns a cell phone and some households do not use a landline at all. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of wireless 9-1-1 calls are made daily nationwide.

Far too many cellular 9-1-1 phone calls, both non-emergency and repeat calls for the same incident, are tying up the 9-1-1 phone system. This results in unnecessary busy signals, disconnects, and delays in dispatch time for ture 9-1-1 emergency calls.

Not every 9-1-1 call is answered by your local law enforcement agency. Cell phone providers try to calculate you approximate location using cell towers or satellite positioning. If they cannot, the call will likely default to the Florida Highway Patrol and then be transferred to the appropriate agency. This means that non-emergency or repeat calls are wasting critical minutes or dispatchers' time.

If you call 9-1-1 from you cell phone or an inactive phone, your phone number and location information may not be available to the dispatcher. Know your surroundings (street address, landmarks, mileposts) when calling 9-1-1. This will save valuable seconds in an emergency.

Avoid accidental 9-1-1 calls

Accidental cell phone calls can congest the 9-1-1 phone system. Accidental calls occur when the phone is placed in a pocket, belt clip, or purse, and a pre-programmed emergency button is bumped. Even a locked phone can dial 9-1-1.

Help Avoid Accidental Calls With the Following Tips

Do not hang up on an accidental 9-1-1 call. Inform the dispatcher that the call was an accident before you hang up.

Do not pre-program 9-1-1 into your or your child's cell phone's speed dial. This can lead to accidental calls.

Teach your child how and when to dial 9-1-1 from a cell phone. Train them to press 9-1-1 and the "send" button only in an emergency.

Even cell phones without active service can dial 9-1-1. Take batteries out of cell phones before recycling them or giving them to a child to play with.

Don't call 9-1-1 to check to see if you cell phone works. 9-1-1 is to be used for emergency calls only.

MY BLOG

Friday, May 15, 2009

I hate to have to do this but.......

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Attn: Cell Phone Users