[Scan-DC] PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR TAKES DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST FOUR 911 CALL TAKERS

[Alan Henney]

-----Original Message----- 
From: PrinceGeorgesCountyMedia
[mailto:PrinceGeorgesCountyMedia at co.pg.md.us]
Sent: Mon 11/13/2006 4:40 PM
Subject: Press Release - PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR TAKES DISCIPLINARY
ACTION AGAINST FOUR 911 CALL TAKERS

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release:

November 13, 2006

For more information:

John E. Erzen

Press Information Officer

Prince George’s County

Office of the County Executive

301-952-2657, cell, 240-508-4491

jeerzen at co.pg.md.us



PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR TAKES DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST FOUR 911 CALL
TAKERS

UPPER MARLBORO, MD – Prince George’s County Public Safety Director
Vernon Herron today took disciplinary action against four call takers
from the county’s 911 call center.  Two call takers have been
suspended for four days without pay and one received a written
reprimand, all as a result of the same incident.  A fourth call taker
was fined $2,500 for a separate incident.

“It is important that our citizens are confident that when they call
911, their information will be recorded properly and the appropriate
police or fire will be dispatched to the call,” Herron said.  “In
these cases, established written procedures were not followed and we
have taken the appropriate action to correct that.”

Three of the call takers were involved in an incident that occurred on
October 13 in which Raymond Brown was shot and killed by a person who
was attempting to steal his car with a tow truck.

On October 13, police officers were dispatched to the 11000 block of
Southlake Drive for the report of a shooting.  Upon arrival officers
found Brown suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a
local hospital where he was pronounced dead.  The initial
investigation revealed that the victim may have followed a tow truck
he saw attempting to take his car, and that the victim and the driver
became involved in an altercation.

Upon learning of the incident, Herron launched an investigation to
determine if Brown had called 911 for assistance when he saw his car
being stolen and if proper procedures were handled during any call
that took place.

A call was located that came in to Public Safety Communications at
2:30 a.m. on October 13 for a report of a shooting.  A call for a
shooting was entered into the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and
sent to the Fire/EMS and Police/Sheriff Dispatchers for processing.
The call taker remained on the phone with the caller to obtain
information about the suspect(s) and to provide pre-arrival emergency
medical instructions, and stayed on the line until the citizen
reported that a police officer had arrived on the scene.

An additional call was later located, that came in prior this call, in
which Brown called to report that his car was being stolen by someone
with a tow truck.  During Herron’s investigation, it was determined
that the call was not handled properly.

The fourth dispatcher was fined for dispatching three calls to the
wrong locations and for failing to realize that one call he received
should have been immediately routed to Montgomery County because the
incident was occurring there.

The homicide investigation into the death of Raymond Brown is ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Prince George’s County
Police at 301-772-4925 or 1-866-411-TIPS.



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