It's been a long time

It's been a very long time and I've been meaning to write but times are very busy. There's so much news I've no idea where to start with all the updates. The Denise Amber Lee Foundation has come a very long way in the past few years. They've become a major player in the 9-1-1 industry. Mostly, I believe, because we have a very unique perspective. 9-1-1 call centers are mostly independent agencies they are all run differently, with different training processes, different equipment, different protocols, different staffing, different everything. As Nathan travels across the country he's had the opportunity to visit different PSAPs in different states, different counties, townships, cities etc... What may work in one, may not work in another. While some states are working on legislation others have already been thru the process. He's able to inform industry peeps on problems and successes and what's working and what's not working. So, it's all very interesting. Nathan left his full time job early last year and started doing all this full time. He's now giving keynotes, inspirational speeches and teaching two classes. The 9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers seem to welcome him everywhere he goes. He truly wants to help them. Through this journey we've come to realize that they are truly guardian angels and many are woefully underappreciated, underfunded and underpaid. He's become a champion for them. And we've all been very humbled through the process. So many tragedies... The things these people listen to on a daily basis. Most of it is very mundane but much of it is horrific. Suicides, murders, drug deals gone bad, domestic abuse, people being shot, people being stabbed, drive by shootings, school massacres, the wife who's sobbing as her husband is dying in her arms, etc... I truly don't know how they do it. And, they listen to Nathan relate Denise's story and somehow they find inspiration. I'm humbled by all this everyday. It's good to see so much positive energy come out of Denise's tragedy.

Impact Case Study - 911 Reform

Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice
601 Tamiami Trail South, Venice, Florida 34285
941.486.4600 GulfCoastCF.org

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to make a community ask, Is this the best we can do for our citizens?

The January 2008 abduction, rape, and murder of 21-year-old North Port wife and mother Denise Amber Lee was one such tragedy. Though calls to 911 were placed by eyewitnesses, no patrol cars were dispatched because of inefficiencies in a 911 call center.

In the aftermath of Denise Lee’s murder, Gulf Coastcommissioned an independent study of the 911 system in Florida.
“Florida 911: The State of Emergency” analyzed all components of emergency response that are activated when a person in need of assistance tries to call 911 in Florida. This marked the first time that 911 in Florida had been analyzed from the placement of a call to the arrival of the first responder on the scene.

Gulf Coast’s study found that Florida’s 911 system was not a “system” at all, but rather a patchwork of state and local agencies, protocols, and technologies cobbled together to respond to 911 calls. It provided policymakers and advocates like the Denise Amber Lee Foundation, which was created by Denise’s husband Nathan, with objective analysis to support their impassioned efforts to reform the 911 system.

Thanks to the work of state Senator Nancy Detert, state Representative Ken Roberson, Nathan Lee, and others, a new law was signed in May 2010 that will require uniform training and certification of 911 operators statewide. The new standards will help close a major gap in Florida’s emergency 911 system—one of many that are identified in Gulf Coast’s study.

Link:
http://www.gulfcoastcf.org/documents/911_Reform_overview.pdf

The things we miss

The past two years have seemed to go by in a blur. The things we miss. We just received a very supportive email that was full of condolences and heartwarming thoughts and support. The man was from Texas and had seen Denise's story on 20/20 last night. I searched for the story on the internet having not remembered it featured on 20/20. I found this:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/denise-lees-widower-911-reform/story?id=8867033

I guess I had watched it when it was aired but I truly do not remember.

My sister sent me a couple of books via mail that I received yesterday. Last night when I thanked her on the phone, I mentioned that I would have to send her a book I had read recently and I thought she would enjoy it. She said "Peggy! I already read it! I sent it to you!!!"

sigh

I remember while reading it thinking "Gosh, I wish could remember who sent me this book." Sometimes I wonder if I am going crazy.

We have received so much heart felt support over these past two years. I cannot count the hugs, letters, notes and emails etc... Not to mention all the other support would be just wrong. We had a gentleman in Britain (York, England) work on Denise's Widipedia page and he spent countless hours sourcing her article to bring it up to Wiki standards. That could not have been easy. Poring over the articles.... ugh! Awful job. So depressing. He was not even aware of her existance until I wrote Wiki asking if someone could clean up her article. You can see it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Amber_Lee

What an awesome job he did.

Anyhow, last night I was thinking about all the hugs etc..... all the kindness and support.... thinking how wonderful it was. People tell us we need to move on and many do not understand why we keep this us. It truly is as Nathan said in the above interview "how can we not?"

No matter how much we suffer by reliving and retelling the story over and over again, it is NOTHING compared to how she suffered.

Also, evil entered our family in the most horrific way imaginable. All this will NEVER bring Denise back. We cannot let the evil win. Look at all the good people who have stepped up through the challenges we have been facing. Think of all the goodness. Surely, that has helped us in realizing that good does trump evil.

I met the supervisor who was on duty in the Sarasota County 9-1-1 center the night Denise was taken. What a wonderful young woman. I think of how this has effected her. I think of all the call takers and dispatchers and trainers from across the country and I just breathe in their goodness.

Sure, there are people out there like the call taker who took Jane's call. Hopefully our foundation will help weed those out. They have no business being call takers.

I think of the media who has also been kind.

sigh

Anyhow, just wanted to get some thoughts out there.

It has been a while

since I have blogged. We have had a lot going on in the past few weeks. As you probably realize with all the articles I have been posting, the Florida legislators are in session. I finally had to stop posting articles because I was becoming emotionally ill. Sometimes I wonder when it all will stop. I guess we could step away at anytime but even so, I do not believe the pain will end. I do know that by going to Tallahassee, being involved, no matter how sick I feel about it all and the constant reliving of Denise's tragedy, it is the right thing to do. These pieces of legislation are so important if we are ever to see the 9-1-1 system improve. I keep thinking of Brian Wood who laid dead beside a remote road for 18 hours because a call taker dismissed a teenager's call to her. Ugh! Then I go through a litany of other victims and well..... I cannot walk away. The suffering and pain sometimes is unbearable and I feel as if I will breakdown if I go on. But, then who is stepping up? Who is speaking out? Who else is outraged? i guess I am obssessed.

Today's Sun Herald by Elaine Allen-Emrich:

http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=454252&pubdate=3/22/2010


Denise Amber Lee's story captured in 911 training video

The video camera rolled as Peggy Lee fought tears. Talking about the horrific 911 call her daughter-in-law, Denise Amber Lee, made on the day she was brutally murdered is always traumatic for Peggy.

More than two years after Denise's death, Peggy still can hardly bear to hear the call. Rather, she holds on to the positive exchange the two shared the night before Denise was abducted from her North Port home on Jan. 17, 2008.

"Denise's last words were that she loved me," said Peggy, adding that the next and final time she would hear Denise's voice was in the 911 call as she cried and begged for her life. Denise, 21, had been kidnapped at gunpoint and was trapped in the back of Michael King's Camaro.

But now, Peggy says it's time for others to hear the call and hopefully learn from Denise's careful clues to the 911 operator.

Without King knowing, Denise got a hold of his prepaid cell phone and dialed 911. She gave the call taker valuable information about who she was, her address and her family before the call abruptly ended six minutes later. The call made jurors in King's trial understand her helplessness and suffering just hours before she died.

"Everyone needs to listen to the call because it has so many teaching moments," Peggy said. "If it means helping someone else, then it is worth it."

Before sentencing King to death, 12th Circuit Judge Deno Economou said it is "rare that one can actually hear such emotion in the voice of an innocent victim who is doomed to be murdered. The 911 recording of the victim tragically reveals her fear, mental state, terror and her emotional strain."

Peggy was recently interviewed for a training video and documentary about Denise by Kevin Willet, the founder of 911 Cares, which offers emotional support and financial assistance for communicators in crisis. It is part of Public Safety Training Consultants, America's largest in-service training provider, according to its Web site.

After meeting Denise's widower, Nathan Lee, who served as the keynote speaker at an out-of-state 911 conference, Willet asked if he could recreate Denise's last day alive for a training video for telecommunications operators.

Also interviewed were Denise's father, Rick Goff, a longtime Charlotte County Sheriff's Office sergeant, King trial jurors and witness Jane Kowalski who also called 911 to report details of a suspicious Camaro with someone screaming and banging on the car window for help. The 911 call taker Kowalski spoke with didn't send law enforcement despite a massive manhunt for Denise hours after she disappeared.

"I'm going to give copies of the DVD to the Denise Amber Lee Foundation (for 911 reform)," Willet said. "I expect to have the video complete next month."

Peggy said the video can be used to give to politicians and others possibly interested in supporting laws to make 911 training standards universal throughout the country.

"Every time we speak about fixing the problems with the 911 system, we have to relive Denise's story," Peggy said. "It's emotionally draining. I know before I speak in public, I reread my statement 20 or 30 times ahead of time. I relive it over and over again."

Peggy said if she had the video she would have used it Thursday after being allowed less than one minute to testify before the state House Energy and Utilities Committee. Peggy and her husband Mark traveled six hours to attend the hearing in Tallahassee. They support a House bill that would charge a small fee (1 percent) from prepaid cell phones and calling cards to pay for universal 911 training standards. The measure could generate about $11 million annually. A 50 cent-per-month fee is already applied to home and cell phones.

Due to time constraints, House members decided to delay the vote on HB 163 bill until this week.

"If I had the DVD, I could have given it to the House representatives and asked them to watch it when they had a chance," Peggy said. "We will be able to do that at conferences, conventions and dinners. We know this DVD will be shown in Canada and as far away as Samoa."

Peggy said her son Nathan could have also given U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, a copy of the DVD after the two met in Washington, D.C., last week. Buchanan helped present the E-911 Institute's 911 Advocacy Award for 2010 to Nathan for creating the Denise Amber Lee Foundation and lobbying Florida legislators to raise standards for its 235 emergency call systems.

"The fact that it (Denise's murder) may have been prevented makes it all the more tragic," Buchanan said in a statement. "I applaud Nathan for working to turn a tragedy into something positive that could help save lives in the future."

The E-911 Institute is a Washington advocacy group that promotes public education on 911 and emergency communications issues.

E-mail: eallen@sun-herald.com


By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH

North Port Community News Editor

Politics at it's shabbiest. Tallahassee.

Thank you Palm Beach Post for bringing to light this issue. I cannot convey my disgust with Tallahassee and am ashamed to admit I am registered Repuplican.

Speaker Cretul ignores e-mail from husband of botched 911 call murder victim

Dara Kam March 10th, 2010

Denise Amber Lee’s six-minute 911 call that helped convict her killer is among the most notorious examples of 911 calls gone wrong, the calls that are now in House Speaker Larry Cretul’s crosshairs as he tries to create a public records exemptions for them.

Her husband Nathan Lee sent an e-mail to the sponsor of Cretul’s bill, House Government Accountability Policy Council Chairman Rob Schenk, pleading with the committee to shoot down the measure that would make 911 call recordings secret except for transcripts that could be available after 60 days. Lee also asked that his message be read at Schenk’s committee hearing the bill (PCB GAP 10-03) before it was voted on this morning.

Schenk made no reference to Lee’s message and did not read it before the measure passed by an 8-5 vote. And Cretul, who used a procedural maneuver to ensure the bill passed, never read it at all. He said he received it last night. Public records show that Cretul, his spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin and Schenk received it around 3:30 p.m. yesterday.

“I haven’t read the e-mail. I’m sure that he makes some excellent points,” Cretul, R-Ocala, said shortly before the House began session at 1 p.m.

Nathan Lee and his parents are pushing a separate 911 bill that would require uniform training standards for 911 dispatchers throughout the state. His wife was killed despite five 911 calls made in two counties, including one from a witness whose call was ignored.

Lee’s e-mail uses the botched handling of the eyewitness’ emergency call made on the day his wife was killed in 2008 to demonstrate why the calls should be available to the public.

“She provided the exact location of this event and even though there were, by all accounts, 4 police cars within a mile of this call, it was never dispatched. This call was, obviously, grossly mishandled and would have resulted in the saving of Denise’s life. Two days after this call, she was found in a grave, naked and with a single gunshot wound to the head. This call was hidden from the public and myself. And even hidden from the police department who was actively investigating the case and searching for my wife for two days. The subsequent internal affairs investigation shows the communication center and agency who took this crucial call were immediately aware that the call was about Denise. The call was suppressed. Had the eyewitness not contacted the North Port Police Department we may never have known about her call. And the prosecution would have lost the last eyewitness to see my wife alive,” Lee wrote.

Cretul said he supports the training and certification bill.

“But my whole interest in this issue has been watching what it also does to families and what it does to people that call in. They become suddenly out there for all the world to see,” Cretul said in an interview. “This is a very tough, very difficult issue. Very sensitive in all respects.”

Read the entire text of Nathan Lee’s message after the jump.

“Dear Representative Schenck,

I am writing to you about PCB GAP 10-03 that has been suggested by your
committee. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend your meeting this morning.
But I would appreciate you reading this email to the committee. Thank you.
As you may or may not know, our foundation was formed out of the tragic
abduction, rape, and murder of my wife, Denise Lee.

Five 9-1-1 calls were made the day she was taken kidnapped from our home
by a complete stranger. One call was made by Denise herself when she
dialed 9-1-1 with her killer’s cell phone without his knowledge. During
the recent murder trial, we had to listen to over 6 minutes of this painful
call where she begged for her life desperately pleading to come home to me
and our 2 boys. I understand the pain and suffering of having to listen to
tragic 9-1-1 calls.

Another 9 minute 9-1-1 call was made that day from a bystander witnessing
the abduction. She provided the exact location of this event and even
though there were, by all accounts, 4 police cars within a mile of this
call, it was never dispatched. This call was, obviously, grossly
mishandled and would have resulted in the saving of Denise’s life. Two
days after this call, she was found in a grave, naked and with a single
gunshot wound to the head. This call was hidden from the public and
myself. And even hidden from the police department who was actively
investigating the case and searching for my wife for two days. The
subsequent internal affairs investigation shows the communication center
and agency who took this crucial call were immediately aware that the call
was about Denise. The call was suppressed. Had the eyewitness not contacted
the North Port Police Department we may never have known about her call.
And the prosecution would have lost the last eyewitness to see my wife
alive.

We believe 9-1-1 issues need more transparency and not less if we are ever
to learn from past mistakes.

In the aftermath of our tragedy, we have been invited around the country
to speak at state and national 9-1-1 conferences on the need for a
mandatory, uniform training standard that all 9-1-1 telecommunicators
should be required to take. There is no reason for the general public to
support or demand additional fees be approved for 9-1-1 if these types of
calls are suppressed from the public discussion. The public needs to know
the challenges of the system in order to vote for additional funding to
improve it. This bill would be totally counter-productive to that end. It
only serves to shelter the agencies from scrutiny. We are victims that
this bill purports to represent but we feel saving another family from the
pain and suffering that we have endured is far more important than saving
us from hearing Denise’s last words. Forward thinking legislators with
integrity and vision would see these calls are valuable training moments
and powerful emotional tools to change public policy to improve the system.
Please do not pass this bill.

Thank you for your time and thank you for reading this for me.

Nathan Lee
Chairman/Co-Founder
Denise Amber Lee Foundation
www.deniseamberlee.org”

Sunday marks 2 years

This Sunday will mark the second anniversary of Denise's death. My mind has been on her quite a bit recently. Between the holidays, Noah turning 4 (gosh I still think of him as 2), the trial, end of year newspaper stories etc... It's tough not having Denise on my mind.

I keep visualizing her coming through the door into the kitchen at our old house carrying Adam in his carseat. The carseat was huge, Adam weighed a ton, and Denise was so petite. Every time I think of her she's smiling.

"Every time I think of her she's smiling"...... hmmm... that's not totally true. In the beginning I could not get what happened to her out of my mind. It was hard thinking of her without visualising in some way the pain and terror of how she suffered. She was a beautiful, sweet young woman. If there were any flaws about her, I certainly never saw them.

But, it's true that now when I think of Denise the evil part (michael King's evil) does not always intrude.

The world lost a very wonderful person when it lost Denise. She was innocent, she was kind, she was sweet, loving, giving and truly selfless. The boys and Nathan always came first with her. Gosh, how she loved Nathan. She worshiped the ground he walked on. And how Nathan loved her and still loves her. He says he'll never stop loving her. It is all so very humbling.

The boys are doing well. We do not see them as much as we were and I miss them desperately. Adam has become a 2 year old hellion. He's so damn cute and he has Denise's smile. He's a stinker! And he knows it... he also knows how damn cute he is! Noah on the other hand is a tad bit more serious and very practical about just about everything. Both are precious... Oh, Denise... I'm crying not having you here. I know you are with us. I believe that or at least I do my best to believe that. We are doing our part to keep your spirit alive. I miss you so much.

It's unbelievable that people question our grieving. They have absolutely no clue.

Sunday we will be going to church as a family.

We are still working on the 9-1-1 front. We're doing our best behind the scenes to see that legislation in Florida passed. We are speaking at different county delegations trying to encourage the legislators to make 9-1-1 reform a priority. The response has been very good. Mark usually has me speak when Nathan cannot be there. I'm getting better at it. It is not so easy putting pain on display. My nerves are usually frazzled before I speak and afterward. But it is something I want to do.

Denise should be alive today. There is no doubt in my mind about that. She'd be damaged, sure. But she'd be home with people loving her.

As to Michael King? His picture was in the paper the other day. (His appeals have started.) He looks like Uncle Fester in the Addams Family only evil. But no matter. Even if they were to hang him tomorrow it would not bring Denise back.

Miss you, Denise. I wish we could hug. I wish I could caress your face just one more time. You were beautiful inside and out. Oh sweetie.

sigh

articles in today's paper December 5, 2009

Herald Tribune

It's death for the man who killed Denise Lee

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091205/ARTICLE/912051043/2416/NEWS?Title=It-s-death-for-the-man-who-killed-Denise-Lee

Paying the price

Justice in Denise Lee case, but harsh realities remain

Published: Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, December 4, 2009 at 8:10 p.m.
There are crimes so heinous, with guilt so certain, that they melt opposition to the death penalty.

The 2008 abduction, rape and murder of North Port mom Denise Lee is one such crime.

Friday, a Sarasota judge sentenced Lee's killer, Michael King, to the ultimate punishment. The sentence followed the unanimous recommendation of the jury that found King guilty of first-degree murder and other horrible offenses.

By most measures, the sentence is just. But any satisfaction that may be taken from it must be weighed against harsh realities.

The first and most tragic of these is that King's execution will not bring back the murdered woman, nor restore the normal life that her husband and two young children once had.

The second is that a death penalty automatically triggers procedures that could delay execution for years, putting the family on an agonizing merry-go-round of appeals.

The third is that this and dozens of other capital cases drain the resources of Florida's criminal justice system.

Because of heightened constitutional requirements, death penalty cases are far more expensive than murder trials in which life with no possibility of parole is sought.

In Florida, the difference between death-penalty and life-without-parole adds up to tens of millions of dollars per year, studies indicate.

It is wrong to put a price tag on justice. But at a time when recession has forced serious budget cuts on law enforcement agencies and the courts, who can feel good about spending so much on a punishment that does so little for crime prevention?

Studies indicate that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent to violent crime, especially in comparison with the less expensive life-without-parole option.

The millions spent on death-penalty pursuits could pay for important crime prevention measures. They could fund additional police, probation and corrections officers, investigators and prosecutors.

They could fund additional crime labs to process large backlogs in DNA samples and evidence.

They could fund substance-abuse programs and facilities for handling severe mental illness.

The dollars could even fund better 9-1-1 emergency communications -- a critical lifesaving link that was disastrously mishandled in Lee's case, causing a missed opportunity to save her.

Budgets aside, the trial and conviction of Michael King stand as proof that, even amid cuts and shortages, the justice system worked. Law enforcement found, analyzed and preserved crucial evidence; the killer was caught; and a jury of his peers convicted him.

Jurors, the judge, and probably the vast majority of Southwest Florida residents agree that King deserves the death penalty.

The punishment fits the crime. It's the cost -- not the penalty -- that is out of line.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091205/OPINION/912051031/2198/OPINION?Title=Paying-the-pricee

From the Sun

King sentenced to death

SARASOTA -- Sobs reverberated across the courtroom Friday as family members of Denise Amber Lee reacted to Michael King getting the death penalty for her murder.

An elderly man sitting in front of King's parents at the Sarasota County Courthouse, who wore a button of Denise smiling, raised his fists in the air twice and grinned as 12th Circuit Judge Deno Economou read from his 45-page decision.

A clean-shaven King stared ahead and didn't move.

The 38-year-old also showed no emotion when the judge read how, on Jan. 17, 2008, King kidnapped Lee from her North Port home at gunpoint. He brought her to his home for about three hours, raped her, then drove her to his cousin's house to borrow a shovel, a flashlight and a gas can to dispose of her body. He promised to let the 21-year-old mother of two young sons go, but then shot her and buried her remains in a wooded area off Toledo Blade Boulevard.

Denise's widower, Nathan, was joined by his parents, Mark and Peggy, as well as her parents, Rick and Susan Goff, and other family members. At times they cried as the judge read graphic details of the rape and spoke of her bruising and the fatal gunshot wound above her eyebrow.

Economou's voice cracked several times as he read Denise's words from her desperate 911 call. He said Denise managed to call 911 without King knowing. She gave the operator valuable information, such as her address and that she was bound and could not see where she was. She repeatedly begged for King -- who was a stranger to her -- to let her go.

The judge said King's "words and actions" revealed a crime that was "conscienceless, pitiless and unnecessarily tortuous with an utter indifference to Denise's suffering.

"His telling her that he would let her go as soon as she gave him the cell phone was a lie, knowing full well that he was going to take her to a secluded area and murder her," Economou said.

The judge weighed little consideration for the arguments that King had a low IQ, suffered an alleged brain injury when he was 6, and was paranoid, which may have been contributing factors to him killing Denise.

Assistant State Attorney Lon Arend said Denise's actions helped solve the case.

"She was the best witness we had," Arend said of Denise leaving her heart-shaped ring and strands of her hair in King's Camaro for investigators to link her to her killer.

Arend said he didn't buy King's bizarre, catatonic-like behavior during his three-week trial.

"I think he faked a mental illness," Arend said.

Outside the courthouse, Nathan joined the Goffs to thank everyone who has been supportive. He said he made "lifelong friends" through the process.

"I want to thank Denise," he said. "She was the most awesome person I've ever known. She was a wonderful wife and mother."

Rick Goff, a 26-year veteran with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, agreed, adding several longtime friends from out of state came to support them in court. For some of them, it was the first time hearing the judge's overview of the murder.

"We wouldn't have found Denise or him (King) if it weren't for Denise leaving behind clues," Goff said. "I could not have done what she did. She was a great detective."

Goff said he understands there will be appeals -- but said he cannot wait until King is executed.

"I will rent the bus for us to go up there and watch that man die," he said. "I may have to go in a wheelchair (following years of appeals), but myself and my family will be there."

Several jurors, who have formed a bond with each other and have met with Nathan and his sons, Noah and Adam, following the trial, were in court Friday.

"I'm so happy that he is going to pay for what he did to that beautiful girl," said Pat O'Quinn, who was one of 12 jurors who recommended the death penalty for King in September.

O'Quinn says she has been following Nathan's fight against the CCSO in a wrongful death lawsuit he filed in October. Nathan contends the CCSO was negligent in not sending any deputies to Toledo Blade Boulevard on the night Denise was kidnapped, despite receiving a 911 call from Jane Kowalski saying there was a person screaming and banging on the window in the back seat of the Camaro next to her.

Reached by phone Friday night, Kowalski, of Tampa, said she was pleased with the judge's decision.

"If there was any case for the death penalty, this was one," she said. "It shouldn't be anything else."

After most left the courthouse Friday, North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis returned to Nathan the ring and necklace -- that was marked as "evidence" for nearly two years -- that Nathan had given to Denise.

Sun staff writers Carol Sakowitz and Anne Klockenkemper contributed to this report.

E-mail: eallen@sun-herald.com


By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH

North Port Community News Editor

http://sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=448590&pubdate=12/5/2009

Case Ends, Appeals Begin


SARASOTA -- Twelfth Circuit Judge Deno Economou handed down the death penalty Friday for convicted killer Michael King in the 2008 murder of young mother of two, Denise Amber Lee.

For those connected to the case, one question remains.

What's next?

* King's death sentence automatically will be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, according to Dennis Menendez, spokesman for the 12th Judicial Circuit. The process could take at least three years, and if upheld, there is a likelihood that it will be 15 years before King is executed.

There are 387 inmates currently on Florida's death row. King makes it 388.

* King himself will wait in a Sarasota County Jail cell until he is transferred to a state penitentiary, according to Maj. Jim Lilly, who oversees county corrections operations. No date has been scheduled for the transfer.

* Denise's younger sister, Amanda Goff, answered, "Yes and no," when asked Friday if the judge's decision puts the case to rest for her.

"(There's an) end in the sense that the trial is completely over," she said. "But it's not over until the day he dies."

For now, she said, "I can put it out of my mind."

Amanda will return to the University of Central Florida, where the school semester will end next week. She also holds two jobs in Orlando.

Friends at school have been great, she said, and added one of them came to the Sarasota County Courthouse to support the family.

She had one final thought before leaving the courthouse: "I want to thank the jury. They were great."

* North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis said his department is starting to prepare for the Coralrose Fullwood murder trial, scheduled to begin in April. Patrick Murphy, 28, is accused in the 6-year-old's 2006 slaying.

"We'll move to the next case and, sadly, the next case is Coralrose," he said.

Preparations will involve up to five detectives, he said, and the department has been given "incredible assistance" almost daily by members of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Looking over to where journalists waited for a press conference by the Lee and Goff families, a somber Lewis said they "are now part of the North Port police family."

"That's not a cliché," he added.

* In October, Nathan filed a wrongful death suit against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. He contends the CCSO was negligent for not sending any deputies to Toledo Blade Boulevard on the night Denise was kidnapped, despite receiving a 911 call from the area saying a man driving a dark Camaro had a person screaming and banging on the window for help in his back seat. Last month, the CCSO filed a motion to dismiss the suit. A judge will determine if the case will continue.

* David Garofalo, North Port City Commission chair, attended Friday's hearing. Garofalo has been part of the local movement to set standards for 911 operators.

Friday, Garofalo said he has 411 letters ready to send to other Florida municipalities asking them to support legislation making its way to law in Tallahassee.

That legislation, he said, could "pave the way for the rest of the country."

* Bonnie Turgeon of Sarasota is a stranger to the Lee and Goff families but she was in court Friday, just as she had been for King's trial.

Turgeon said she was there to support the man who sold her and her family a TV set at Best Buy in January. When she went home, she saw the salesman -- Nathan Lee -- on that TV.

During the trial, Turgeon said she met Nathan's mother, Peggy, and learned of a cookbook that she and Denise's mother, Susan, were compiling as a fundraiser. Turgeon said she bought one.

Turgeon spoke Friday of Denise's two young sons. She said Peggy told her the 2-year-old, Noah, remembers the last words his mother said to him: "Goodbye ... and I love you."

E-mail: csakowitz@sun-herald.com

By CAROL SAKOWITZ

North Port Assistant Editor

http://sunnewspapers.net/articles/pnnews.aspx?NewsID=448608&a=newsarchive2/120509/ew5.htm&pnpg=1

Today's Sun Herald by Elaine Allen-Emrich

The nice thing about today's article is the Sun had a picture of Denise and Nathan. Usually the papers print a picture of Denise and a shot of King or they print a picture of Nathan and a shot of King. Today there was one of Nate and one of Denise. I know this sounds like a silly comment but it's been difficult and, yes, painful at times seeing Denise and King's pictures taking up the same print on the same page.

As to the article and Bill Cameron all I can say is "friggin' unbelievable".


Sheriff's Office Wants Lees Lawsuit Thrown Out

Published on: Saturday, November 14th, 2009

PUNTA GORDA -- The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office has asked that the civil lawsuit Nathan Lee filed against the agency a month ago in the death of his wife Denise be thrown out of court, according to court documents filed this week.

The CCSO states the case should be dismissed with prejudice and asks for Lee to pay court fees.

In the 13-page motion, the Sheriff's Office claims no responsibility for Denise Amber Lee's death due to a "mishandled" 911 call because her murder was committed by a third party -- Michael King.

The motion states, "Absent a special duty to protect a person from being victimized by a criminal act, a governmental agency's duty to protect a citizen is a general duty owed to the public at large, and any actions taken in fulfilling that responsibility will not be subject to scrutiny by way of a suit for damages."

A court hearing has not been set yet in the case..

Lee maintains that a 911 call taker and dispatchers failed to send any help for his wife on Jan. 17, 2008, after an eyewitness, Jane Kowalski, called to report suspicious activity in the vehicle next to her while she was driving south on U.S. 41 in Charlotte County. Denise, 21, had been kidnapped by King from her North Port home and was blindfolded and bound in the back seat of his Camaro, which was traveling near Kowalski's car.

In a detailed, nine-minute call, Kowalski told a 911 call taker that the person in the Camaro's back seat was screaming and slapping the window. King turned left on Toledo Blade Boulevard, and Kowalski was unable to follow.

Denise's body was found two days later in a wooded area off Toledo Blade.

Lee claims the botched handling of the 911 call in the CCSO dispatch center helped lead to Denise's death. He says employees proved "severe incompetence" in handling the 911 call and "breached their duties" by incorrectly performing numerous operational acts -- including failing to timely air BOLOs about King's Camaro from the North Port Police Department to deputies, failing to communicate the information from Kowalski, failing to timely log her call into the system for 12 minutes after the call was made, and failing to dispatch the information from the call.

"I just think people who live in Charlotte County should be concerned that (the CCSO) are saying they had no duty to protect Denise," Lee said Friday. "It's so unbelievable to say."

Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Cameron was named as the defendant in Lee's 17-page wrongful death lawsuit. Although Cameron was not the sheriff at the time -- John Davenport was -- Lee is required to name him on behalf of the Sheriff's Office for legal purposes, said his attorney, Patrick Boyle of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

Boyle said he expected the Sheriff's Office to fight the suit "every step of the way."

"It's common for challenges in most civil cases," Lee agreed.

The civil suit doesn't specify an amount Lee is seeking. State law allows only $200,000 to be awarded in a settlement of such a suit, but a jury can award more.

The CCSO conducted an Internal Affairs investigation following the incident. Two dispatchers were suspended for not following protocol.

The sheriff's motion filed this week states Lee's lawsuit puts a spin on the 911 call, saying that because Kowalski called 911 and alerted law enforcement about the situation, she didn't take any further action to help Denise (because she expected the Sheriff's Office to respond timely) -- "thereby increasing the risk of harm faced by Mrs. Lee."

In the call, Kowalski gave specific street names and explained that King turned onto Toledo Blade. She told the operator she didn't follow him because traffic was too heavy. Kowalski pulled over and asked that someone follow up with her.

The operator indicated in the call that the vehicle was headed toward Interstate 75.

Denise's body was found less than a mile from the Interstate. King was pulled over as he entered I-75 nearly three hours after Kowalski's call.

The CCSO motion also contends that no special relationship existed between the Sheriff's Office and Denise compared to anyone else in the general public -- meaning she wasn't entitled to any special protection.

The CCSO suggests the agency is only liable when a special relationship exists if employees make promises to provide assistance "uniquely responsive to someone, and the person relies upon those assurances to his detriment," according to the motion.

Jurors recommended the death penalty for King in September. A Sarasota judge ultimately will decide his fate in December.

E-mail: eallen@sun-herald.com


By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH

Today's Herald Tribune

Since we learned about this motion I've been holding off commenting. I am doing my best to restrain myself from saying anything unladylike. It's unbelievable. "Special Relationship"? What's that? I just cannot understand how the sheriff's department, namely Bill Cameron (who was in charge the night Denise died) refuses to accept any responsibility for this debacle. He and the sheriff before him (John Davenport) and their cronies truly do not believe they did anything wrong and are doing anything wrong. It's unconscionable. No apologies. No nothing. They just want to wash their hands of the whole thing. "She would have died anyway" according to John Davenport. They would have swept the entire incident under the rug if Jane Kowalski had not persisted in her phone calls to the North Port Police Department and had we not read the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs report. sigh.

Here's an article from today's paper by Jason Witz with the Herald Tribune.

Sheriff's Office wants Lee suit thrown out


By JASON WITZ Correspondent


Published: Friday, November 13, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 11:58 p.m.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY - Nathan Lee's wrongful death lawsuit against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office should be thrown out because the agency gave no specific promises it would protect his wife, a motion released Thursday stated.

In a 13-page motion filed in Charlotte County circuit court, lawyers for the Sheriff's Office argued that 911 workers did not make "assurances to provide assistance uniquely responsive" to a key witness who reported seeing Denise Lee with her captor.

The motion asks a judge to dismiss Nathan Lee's lawsuit seeking damages from the Sheriff's Office in the murder of Denise Lee after her January 2008 kidnapping and rape. A hearing date for the motion has not been set.

The Sheriff's Office contends it would not be liable in Lee's death because no "special relationship" existed with her compared with the general public.

Although the operation of a 911 communication system is part of law enforcement services provided to the public, the agency is liable only when a special relationship is created, the motion states.

The Sheriff's Office contends that such relationship would exist only if, through employees, it makes assurances to provide assistance uniquely responsive to someone, and the person relies upon those assurances to his detriment, according to the motion.

Without that relationship, the attorneys contend, a governmental agency's duty to protect a person cannot be subject to a suit.

Lawyers say there is "no factual basis" to suggest any Sheriff's Office employees made any special promises during its 911 call with Tampa resident Jane Kowalski, who saw Denise Lee in the back of her abductor's car, near the Charlotte-Sarasota County line, pleading for help. Call takers failed to alert deputies, who were patrolling nearby.

Nathan Lee's suit accuses Sheriff Bill Cameron and his employees of being negligent in investigating the abduction of Denise Lee and contributing to her death.

Denise Lee, 21, was later found buried in a shallow grave in North Port, a few miles from where Kowalski had seen her in the car driven by unemployed North Port plumber Michael King, who awaits sentencing for his conviction for murder, kidnap and rape.

Lee is seeking a jury award of more than the statutory limit of $200,000. He said the motion seems contrary to the motto "To serve and protect."

"I'm just extremely frustrated," he said.

The Sheriff's Office is arguing it "had no duty to protect Denise," Nathan Lee added. "I definitely think the citizens of Charlotte County should be concerned about that."

Cameron said the agency would not comment.

Sheriff's Office lawyers say Kowalski was never told to take any action other than observe King's vehicle, court documents show.

But Lee's suit alleges that the Sheriff's Office's handling of Kowalski's call prevented her "from taking other action to help Denise Lee, thereby increasing the risk of harm faced by Lee."

Link:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091113/ARTICLE/911131037

Tomorrow's Sun Paper

Lee, Kowalski slated to appear on 'Good Morning America' Tuesday

By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH
North Port Community News Editor

Tuesday, Nathan Lee and Jane Kowalski are scheduled to appear on "Good Morning America" to talk about life after the 2008 kidnapping, rape and murder of Nathan's wife, Denise Amber Lee.

Nathan recently filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, alleging the handling of 911 call made by Kowalski was botched by CCSO dispatchers, leading to Denise's death.

The 21-year-old mother of two was abducted from her North Port home Jan. 17, 2008, by Michael King, who raped and murdered her. The 38-year-old was convicted on Sept. 4. Jurors unanimously recommended the death penalty, which a judge will decide later on this year.

Kowalski, of Tampa, testified during King's trial that she saw him driving a dark-colored Camaro with someone screaming and slapping the window in the back seat on the night Denise was kidnapped. After she called 911 to report the strange incident, call center staff did not dispatch deputies to Toledo Blade Boulevard, where Kowalski saw King turn off.

Denise had been trapped in King's car. Her body was found buried off Toledo Blade two days later.

"They called me to be on the show and tell Denise's story," Nathan said Monday. "I've always said Denise did not die in vain. She would want me to do this to help prevent anyone else from being hurt, and to fix the 911 system."

Following Denise's death, Nathan, his family and friends created the Denise Amber Lee Foundation to strengthen the 911 system and create universal, mandatory training for all call takers. Lee has been to 10 states talking representing the foundation telling Denise's story and lobbying for minimum standards for training, protocol and equipment for all call centers.

"Good Morning America" begins at 7 a.m. on ABC, Comcast channel 7.

This isn't the first time Nathan has been on national TV promoting a "much needed" 911 overhaul. He's also been on the "Dr. Phil" show and "Dateline NBC."

Denise's story is also featured in this month's Reader's Digest. The article, by Michael Crowley, cites several examples of "911 Calls Gone Tragically Wrong," including an Orlando woman who called 911 after she was kidnapped. In that case, the operator lectured the woman for not telling him where she was during the call. Her ex-boyfriend shot and killed her before turning the gun on himself, Crowley wrote.

The article leads off: "One afternoon in January 2008, Nathan Lee returned home from work to find his two little boys crammed into the same crib, crying. Their mother had left behind her cell phone and purse and disappeared."

The article goes on to state: "A spate of recent cases reveal shocking flaws in our national emergency response system -- at a cost measured in lives."

E-mail: eallen@sun-herald.com


http://sunnewspapers.net/articles/llnews.aspx?articleID=14696&bnpg=o

And this on SNN 6 on Friday by Jackie Barron

Judge Allows Sheriff to Hold Back Full Report in Lee Lawsuit

By JACKIE BARRON

jbarron@wfla.com

Published: September 25, 2009

PUNTA GORDA - Nate Lee has to wait a little longer for answers about the mishandling of a 911 call in the January 2008 death of his wife, Denise.

This morning Charlotte Judge James Shenko granted a motion to dismiss a request by Lee for an unedited copy of the internal investigation into the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office 911 Center.

Judge Shenko cited a technicality when Lee's former attorney failed to file some paperwork on time as the reason he won't grant Lee's current request for discovery.

He recommended instead that Lee immediately file his lawsuit then come back to the issue.

The sheriff's office has admitted it messed up when dispatchers failed to alert deputies about a call from Tampa resident Jane Kowalski, a few hours after Michael King had kidnapped Denise Lee from her North Port home.

Charlotte 911 operator Mildred Stepp hand wrote the information instead of entering it into her computer. Stepp then yelled the details of the call to a pair of supervisors nearby.

Kowalski reported seeing a person in distress in the back of a car matching the description of King's Camaro detailed in a "be on the lookout" bulletin already sent to the sheriff's office.

Detectives now believe Kowalski was the last person to see Denise Lee alive. About a half-dozen deputies posted along Toledo Blade Boulevard between U.S. 41 and Interstate 75 never knew about Kowalski's call. Before King reached the interstate he pulled off, shot Lee in the head and then buried her in a 4-foot grave.

The sheriff's office launched an internal investigation after Kowalski called North Port police to ask why no one had followed up with her. Charlotte gave two employees minor reprimands. Stepp kept her job.

Today the sheriff's office argued about protecting a 911 caller's identity as one of the reasons for blacking out big chunks of the internal report. But Kowalski has spoken out several times on local and national television. A sheriff's office attorney also cited appeals in an ongoing criminal case.

A Sarasota jury recently convicted King and recommended he receive the death penalty for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Lee. After erroneously calling Denise Lee by her middle name, Amber, attorney Bruce Jolly called Nate Lee's request for a clean copy of the report a "fishing expedition."

Lee's attorney, Patrick Boyle, pointed out the sheriff's office inconsistent behavior when it comes to the stack of public records. While Lee's copy of the internal report has large swaths of black marker blocking information, a copy given to a producer for NBC's "Dateline" show does not.

Boyle said the "Dateline" copy reveals a statement from a sergeant where he admits "standard procedure would have been to stay with the caller until a unit arrived on scene."

That didn't happen with Kowalski.

"We are in the untenable position of knowing negligence was involved but now knowing how," Boyle said to Judge Shenko. "Every piece of information and every scrap of paper is what we desire.
"Almost two years later we still don't have those documents."

Boyle wrapped up by saying, "There is nobody in this courthouse, nobody in this town, nobody in this state and probably half the people in this country that would argue there isn't a good faith basis for a lawsuit."

Judge Shenko then instructed Boyle to file the suit and fight again for the records. The sheriff's office captain responsible for redacting or removing much of Lee's copy of the internal report offered a small smile on the opposite side of the courtroom.

Lee left frustrated yet determined to find the answers he says his wife and two young sons deserve from Charlotte's public servants.


Reporter Jackie Barron can be reached at (813) 221-570

North Port Sun

Judge denies Lee's request for complete 911 report


By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH
North Port Community News Editor

PUNTA GORDA -- A judge ruled Friday against Nathan Lee's request to get a "clean copy" of the 2008 Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs report explaining the breakdown in communication between 911 call takers on the night his wife, Denise Amber Lee, was murdered.

Lee says he needs the report for a wrongful death lawsuit he intends to file against the Sheriff's Office.

Based on a technicality, 20th Circuit Judge James Shenko ruled that Lee's attorney's request for the unredacted Internal Affairs report -- with nothing crossed out -- was premature because it came before the end of the six-month waiting period legally required before filing a lawsuit. Had the request been filed in court after the Sept. 12 deadline, the judge would have ruled on the merits of both sides' arguments.

However, Lee's attorney, Patrick Boyle, argued that more than a year ago, the CCSO provided a reporter with the TV show "Dateline NBC" a less redacted copy of the report than the one Nathan was given after he announced his intention to sue.

"Dateline" paid more than $125 for a copy of the report after it was completed.

Nathan Lee retained an attorney last year and announced he was going to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the CCSO. However, the attorney failed to file the proper paperwork with the state on Lee's intention. Lee said he fired that attorney and had Boyle refile the documents.

Lee claims his wife, Denise, 21, could have been saved if law enforcement officials -- who were on a massive manhunt for her since about 4:30 p.m. Jan 17, 2008 -- would have known about the 911 call made by witness Jane Kowalski at 6:42 p.m. that same day. The call was never dispatched to officers.

Kowalski told a dispatcher she saw a person screaming and slapping a window in the Camaro driving next to her on U.S. 41. The car turned left onto Toledo Blade Boulevard and Kowalski was unable to follow. Denise's body was found buried off Toledo Blade two days later.

According to the IA report, a deputy should have met with Kowalski, who pulled into the Toys R Us parking lot in Port Charlotte during her nine-minute call. She even asked if there was a "be on the lookout" for anyone in the area.

Michael King -- the driver of the Camaro -- was found guilty in Denise's kidnapping, rape and murder in August. Jurors unanimously recommended the death penalty for King earlier this month. A judge will decide his sentence in October.

In court, Boyle said the IA report, which is a public document, included the names and specific information about "who did what wrong." However, more than 50 percent of the report provided to Nathan was redacted.

Boyle said the exact report given to "Dateline" is only slightly redacted. He said the report should only have small sections redacted, such as the 911 caller's personal information; instead, all of Kowalski's call and all other pertinent information from the call takers is blacked out.

The CCSO's Fort Lauderdale attorney, Bruce Jolly, told the judge it wasn't relevant that the document was a public record because Lee did not make a public record's request for it.

Jolly said in his 35 years as an attorney, he has only seen two requests for "pure discovery" -- completely unredacted documents -- before a lawsuit is filed.

"Who does this?" he asked the judge. "You don't need this to file. If you believe facts are arguably sufficient that this was neglectfully handled, than that's enough to get through the courthouse door."

Read more on this story in Saturday's Sun.

Saved for posterity. Charlotte County CCSO grasping at straws IMO

What a crock of you know what! What are they trying to do by saying Nathan has "unclean hands"? What the hell does that mean?

CCSO, county, Lee has 'unclean hands' in lawsuit

Widower of murder victim still plans to file wrongful death suit


Nathan Lee said he wanted to wait until after the Michael King murder trial to seek damages against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office for not helping to save the life of his 21-year-old wife, Denise Amber Lee, on Jan. 17, 2008, after she was abducted.

On Aug. 28, King was found guilty in Denise's kidnapping, rape and murder. On Sept. 4, jurors unanimously recommended the death penalty for King. A judge ultimately will decide his fate in October.

Nathan originally hired a law firm to file a wrongful death suit against the CCSO and Charlotte County, but the necessary paperwork was not filed with the state in a timely manner. Now, in recently filed court documents, county attorneys claim Nathan has "unclean hands" in not following procedures.

Nathan claims there were numerous procedural breakdowns at the CCSO and "severe incompetence" in the way the 911 call was handled on the night Denise was murdered.

County attorneys are asking a judge to block Nathan's request for an unredacted copy of a Sheriff's Office internal affairs investigation into the handling of that call.

The CCSO launched the internal affairs investigation several days after learning that Tampa resident Jane Kowalski called 911 to report she was at a traffic light on U.S. 41 and could hear someone banging on a window and screaming from the back of a Camaro, as she was leaving North Port and entering Charlotte County. Kowalski told the 911 dispatcher that the Camaro, driven by King, made a left turn on Toledo Blade Boulevard. Denise's body was found buried in a wooded area off Toledo Blade two days later.

However, none of Kowalski's information was sent over the airwaves or relayed to the North Port Police Department, which had launched a massive manhunt for Denise earlier that afternoon. Two call center workers received suspensions and additional training as a result of their actions that night.

Nathan said several law enforcement officers were in the area where King drove on the night he murdered Denise. Had law enforcement officers been given the information when Kowalski reported it, Denise may have been saved, he said.

North Port police learned about Kowalski only after she called the department explaining what she had seen two days earlier. She questioned why her information was not shared with North Port.

Nathan's original attorneys failed to file the proper paperwork with the Florida Department of Financial Services at the same time they notified Charlotte County during the mandatory six-month notice period before a suit can be filed. Florida law sets the maximum amount a plaintiff can collect from a government entity at $200,000. If the court awards more, the Florida Legislature must approve it.

"I have new counsel now," said Nathan, who was recently on "Larry King Live" talking about the botched 911 call. "We are following all of the requirements of the law."

However, because of the paperwork snafu, in recently filed court documents, county attorneys claim Nathan has "unclean hands" in not following procedures.

According to court documents filed by Nathan's new firm, Wotitzky, Wotitzky & Ross, "Charlotte County has cited no legal authority to support its proposition that Mr. Lee has unclean hands under these, or other circumstances. This argument is not only devoid of merit, but it is offensive and should be disregarded."

"I don't even know what they mean by saying I have unclean hands," Nathan said this week. "My wife is dead, my two boys don't have a mother, yet they say my hands are unclean."

County attorneys have blocked Nathan's attempts at receiving the CCSO internal affairs investigative report that he believes contains supporting details for his wrongful death lawsuit. Their motion states that CCSO officials say they have to protect Kowalski's identity and that they are not required to release information prematurely, as it is an "ongoing investigation." Further, the motion states, the county is not "liable for the death of Mrs. Lee."

Although Nathan's attorneys could still file the civil suit without having a copy of the report they requested, they are waiting for a judge to make a ruling.

In court documents, Charlotte County contends if Nathan wants to sue and needs the internal affairs investigation as part of the discovery -- evidence made available to both sides -- he should wait until after his suit is filed.

Instead of providing Nathan with a "clean copy" of the investigation, he says the CCSO gave him a "heavily redacted," or blacked-out, copy of the report, citing it as an ongoing investigation.

Nathan's attorneys claim the investigation was complete more than a year and a half ago and is "clearly not ongoing."

E-mail: eallen@sun-herald.com


By ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH

Nathan's Impact Statement

http://www.deniseamberlee.org/News.aspx?ID=151

"Chaos Theory" from Urgent Communications

In light of DateLine airing again tonight, I thought I'd post this to update persons new to the case on what the foundation is doing and what we're fighting for. We so hope and pray such errors are minimized and that more people don't have to die needlessly. Denise's tragedy is not an isolated incident. Problems happen more than most people know. We can improve this folks! And people truly are out there trying but we need your help!

Jul 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Glenn Bischoff

Protocols and intuitive managers are key to reducing pressure in 911 centers.

Nathan Lee returned to his Florida home in the middle of the afternoon on Jan. 17, 2008. When he arrived, he found his two sons — a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old — together in the younger boy's crib. His wife and the boys' mother, Denise Amber Lee, was nowhere to be found.

She was found two days later in a shallow grave after being brutally raped. In the first frenetic hours after her abduction, mistakes allegedly were made by a 911 call-taker and dispatchers that hampered the search effort. Today, her family and friends are wondering why no national training and certification program exists for 911 telecommunicators, which they believe would help professionals in the sector better keep their wits in an intrinsically high-stress environment that becomes a crucible when things hit the fan.

The first 911 call on the day of Denise Lee's abduction was placed by Nathan Lee. The 911 center that took that call and two others promptly issued BOLO ("Be On the LookOut for") signals that allegedly were missed by the 911 center in an adjacent county. At some point during the ordeal, the assailant drove through that county with Denise Lee in tow.

Later in the afternoon, a witness called 911 to report that a child in the back seat of a green Camaro was pounding on the window and screaming hysterically. The "child" was Denise Lee, according to Peggy Lee, the victim's mother in law. According to Lee's family, that call was received by the same 911 center that allegedly missed the BOLOs issued after Nathan Lee's 911 calls. Somehow, the family alleges, no BOLO ever was issued for the call from the eyewitness nor were police cruisers dispatched, even though the eyewitness provided cross streets at several junctures until the car carrying Denise Lee peeled off onto another road.

Peggy Lee today serves as the community relations director for the Denise Amber Lee Foundation, which is lobbying for training and procedural reforms in the 911 sector. She has heard the recording from the eyewitness call and said the call-taker became flustered during the nine minutes she was on the line with the eyewitness. "That call-taker didn't know what to do — you could hear the chaos," she said.

Denise Lee's father works in that county as a police detective. He said in an interview on a network-television newsmagazine that a fellow officer told him that the officer was certain the vehicle drove "right by him" but did not pursue, because "he never received the information."

Local media reported that the county's sheriff defended the performance of the 911 center's call-takers and dispatchers that night but acknowledged that mistakes were made. Reportedly, two dispatchers were suspended as a result of this incident.

During the ordeal, Denise Lee somehow managed to get her hands on the assailant's wireless phone without him knowing and placed her own 911 call. She cleverly gave the call-taker vital information, such as the type of car, by speaking in a way that made her assailant think she was talking to him. After seven minutes the assailant caught on and the call ended. "That call was handled superbly," Peggy Lee said.

However, Denise Lee's location couldn't be identified by the 911 system because she used a pre-paid wireless phone to place the call.

The television newsmagazine posed this question: Could Denise Lee have been saved if the call-taker and dispatchers had kept their cool? It's a question that haunts her family.

Consequently, the Denise Amber Lee Foundation is lobbying for the creation of a national certification program for 911 call-takers and dispatchers. "We want to ensure that no other family has to endure the pure hell our family has experienced," said Nathan Lee during last month's National Emergency Number Association (NENA) conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

Craig Whittington, NENA's newly elected president, who spent six years on the organization's educational committee before joining its executive board in 2007, is in favor of such a program. "You have to be certified to operate a tanning booth, but for 911 — the most critical link in emergency response — there is no certification," Whittington said.

While a good idea, a national program likely would be difficult to create and maintain, said Rick Jones, NENA's director of operations. Funding would be at the heart of that difficulty. "When you address the need for training and certification, you indeed are going to escalate their costs," he said.

Jones said that 911 call centers ideally would allocate 5% of their operating budgets for training but acknowledged that such a goal would be unrealistic for many, if not most, centers in the current economic environment. "Their training has been cut, and their practice time has been reduced for various reasons, [but] basically economic," Jones said. "That starts to have a negative effect."

The negative effect is three-fold. Rigorous ongoing training, core-competency standards and proficiency tests would increase the likelihood that call-takers and dispatchers act properly and — perhaps more important — instinctively. This, in turn, would make them more competent and confident, leading to reduced stress. And the less stressed that call-takers and dispatchers are, the le
ss likely they are to lose their composure and make mistakes at crucial moments.

But such training, standards and testing largely are absent in the 911 world, a fact that Gordon Graham, the keynote speaker at NENA's conference, noted. Graham, a former California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer turned litigator and educator specializing in risk management, said, "Once you are hired, you will never have to take another test if you don't want to be promoted. The public deserves better."

To illustrate the point, Graham spoke of US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who landed his airplane in New York City's Hudson River in January after several birds flew into the craft's engines, rendering them inoperable. According to Graham, Sullenberger said in an interview shortly after his heroic actions saved the lives of everyone aboard Flight 1549 that he tried, throughout his flying career, to make small deposits each day into his memory bank, knowing that one day he would "have to make a massive withdrawal."

It was a sound strategy, Graham said, because doing so enabled Sullenberger to make instantaneous, life-and-death decisions on that fateful day. It's a lesson especially adaptable to the public-safety sector, whose personnel make such decisions on a daily basis.

"You will run into the unthinkable event someday, and you will have to make instantaneous decisions," Graham said. "Whether you are prepared to do so is up to you."

To prepare, Jones recommended that 911 emergency call centers at least implement protocols that every telecommunicator follows for every call the center receives. He suggested that centers adopt the protocols already established by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Institute or PowerPhone (a provider of crisis communications training), and resist the temptation to create their own.

"That's dangerous, because a local agency doesn't have the expertise," said Jones, who further cautioned that centers also should resist altering the national protocols, because "sometimes they over-modify them."

Emergency call center managers also can play an important role in reducing the stress encountered by 911 call-takers and dispatchers, according to Steve Wisely, director of APCO's Communications Center and 911 services department. He said managers should be trained to have a calming effect on telecommunicators. "It's important that the supervisory leadership has training that will allow them to act in a calm manner, even when high-profile incidents are underway," Wisely said. "The supervisors set the tone for the workers that are reporting to them."

It's also important that supervisors recognize when a call-taker or dispatcher needs to decompress or a shoulder to lean on for a few minutes, Wisely said. "A support system needs to be in place where a person can get out of their seat and go to a quiet place to contemplate [an incident] or talk to somebody, if they're troubled by it," he said.

http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/mag/sops-training-reduce-call-takers-stress-200907/index.html?smte=wl

such a relief

Nathan sounds so good and healthy! Oh my.... my heart and mind are more at peace now!!!!

I'm so proud of you, Nathan:o) And I love you so much!!!!!

Yours is an example I need to follow. gosh, I'm proud of you.

Denise would be so proud of you!

YouTube ~ NENA 2009 ~ Strategic Alliances

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATpCtoPCZOA

You can see Nate at about the 1:52 minute mark. This is what it's all about. Certification and standardization is a good start. Dear God, make it happen.

God bless all the dedicated call takers and dispatchers out there who are fighting this fight with us and for us. You really are our first line of defense in homeland security. Without your dedication and diligence the firefighter would never get to the fire, the EMT would never get to the medical emergency and the police could not stop an abduction in progress and prevent a murder.

Thank you for fighting the good fight! God bless you.

Fathers who lost loved ones work to change 911 system

I'm hoping if you click the link you'll be able to see the TV news that aired. Somehow, we missed it. I'm so proud of you, Nathan.

link: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/localnews/news8/stories/wfaa090612_ac_911changes.72f3a756.html


11:19 AM CDT on Friday, June 12, 2009

By SHELLY SLATER / WFAA-TV


When you call 911 you expect help, but there are no federal standards for training 911 dispatchers.

Now a Collin County man who blames the 911 system, in part, for his son's death is asking why not?

Michael Cantrell is teaming up with a new friend who knows his pain.

Nathan Lee's wife, Denise, was kidnapped and murdered in Florida.

She called 911 and so did a witness, but the call was never dispatched. Police never knew she needed help.

Tragedy brought the two fathers together.

Cantrell's son, Matthew, accidentally hanged himself in their backyard soccer net.

The family's call to 911 heeded little help.

Dispatchers gave no medical advice and then transferred the call, wasting precious minutes they believe could have saved their son.

"We've kind of built a long distance friendship over the last couple of months," Lee says of Cantrell.

And now, with the same motivations, the two men are pushing for federal standards for 911 operators.

"Like federal air traffic controllers, it's a federal mandating thing, but for some reason 911 isn't," Lee said.

"It's not magic," says Cantrell, "when you call 911 that everything is going to go smoothly."

The men are appealing to the federal level to create a uniform 911 system.

Currently, regulations can vary by state, even by county.

Lee says that's not good enough.

"In my eyes you truly are the first line of defense for homeland security," Lee told a group of emergency professionals. .

From better training to better equipment, the hope is to eliminate error.

"We all live in the bubbles," Cantrell said. "Until tragedy can strike you and your life is forever changed."

Cantrell misses his son Matthew every minute, but now he's redirecting that energy for change.

"It's more ammo for the fire to say this is why we're doing this," Lee says, "let's rally around and make it happen."

And together these new friends and partners say they will, step by step.

In the Charlotte Sun

Here we are receiving support across the nation but in Florida......

Thank you Senator Detert, Rep Kreegel, Rep Roberson and David Garofalo. Please, keep fighting the good fight and that is to save lives by minimizing human error and creating standards for 9-1-1 dispatchers and call takers.

The bill had flaws but it was a start. It's truly appalling, pathetic and sad that certain public officials put politics before public safety.


No hurry to pass 911 bill

By ED SCOTT
Staff Writer

NORTH PORT -- Local legislators are disappointed that their efforts to require enhanced 911 emergency dispatcher certification failed last week.

State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, called it "unbelievable that something with this much common sense could not pass the Legislature."

A bill in the House of Representatives that required certification standards for 911 operators in Florida was sponsored by state Rep. Ken Roberson, R-Port Charlotte, and co-sponsored by Rep. Paige Kreegel, R-Punta Gorda.

The local legislators had high hopes for the bill after it was given unanimous approval by the House Health Care Regulation Policy Committee in March. But it was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, one day after the session ended.

Meanwhile, a bill in the Senate, sponsored by Detert, that requires 911 operators to be certified by the state Department of Health, was in the Health and Human Services Appropriations committee in April.

"Since there was no movement in the House and we were running out of days, the Senate did not want to work on it any longer," Detert said.

Detert rejects the assertion that sheriffs across the state, who initially opposed the bill, did not ultimately support it.

"We had worked that all out and the sheriffs did support it in the end," Detert said. "There was one major lobbyist (Richard Pinsky) who testified against it several times. He represents the 911 operators and they wanted totally different language that we did not agree to."

Referring to Pinsky, who lobbies for the Florida 911 Emergency Dispatchers organization, Kreegel said, "There are some lobbyists for the 911 operators who interfered with the process greatly."

The House bill passed through the House Health Care Regulation Policy Committee after an impassioned speech by North Port City Commissioner David Garofalo, who is on the board of the Denise Amber Lee Foundation.

"He didn't make a speech; he hit a home run," Kreegel said.

Last year the Legislature made law a Kreegel-sponsored bill that recommended higher certification standards for 911 operators statewide but did not mandate them. That law followed the murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee, who was kidnapped from her North Port home in January 2008.

The Lee family believes the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office botched a 911 call to dispatch units to the intersection where Denise was last seen by a motorist.

Currently, each emergency dispatch call center mandates its own criteria. Detert says her bill would have provided uniformity "from county to county and to make it mandatory instead of voluntary. Part of the dispute was who was going to teach the course and we were going to allow the sheriffs to do it themselves."

Detert said Denise Lee's husband, Nathan Lee, who is promoting 911 certification nationwide, "wants consistency and I support that and our bill provided consistency," meaning counties would have been required to provide similar training.

"If there is any cost involved, that does not bother me because that's why the sheriffs get funding, to protect the public and for safety issues. That's what our tax dollars pay for."

Nathan Lee echoed his displeasure at the bill's failure.

"I'm disappointed, but in the same respect, I'm excited about drafting our own legislation," he said Tuesday.

Kreegel was also disappointed that senators "never got it done. They had bigger fish to fry with the budget. Very little was passed this year.

"In the House it was ready to go to the floor, (but) if you have something with no traction in the Senate, then it won't be heard on the floor of the House," Kreegel said.

Detert says she will reintroduce the bill next year.

"It will be back," she said. "It was a good learning experience for Ken Roberson that the simplest things are harder than they look and you have to strap on your armor and battle lobbyists. I think it was a surprise to him that the sheriffs would not support this bill (initially).

"Next year he'll have better luck because we have smoothed the road."

"It was a good learning experience but he actually did an excellent job shepherding it through committee," Kreegel said of Roberson.

Staff writer Jason Witz contributed to this report.

E-mail: escott@sun-herald.com