by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 20, 2021 | Comm Center News
CINCINNATI (FOX19) – When the city of Cincinnati agreed to pay $6 million to the family of Kyle Plush to settle a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this year, the city pledged to make more improvements to the 911 center.
The settlement specifies $250,000 for improvements to the 911 call center. The funds are to be used to hire outside experts to review the city’s 911 operations.
The oversight will last five years and the experts’ recommended improvements must be made.
“This settlement is about improving the safety of the citizens of Cincinnati,” Al Gerhardstein, lawyer for the Plush family, said…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 20, 2021 | Comm Center News
CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Kerston Abbott worked at the Montgomery County E-911 Center for nine years before she quit in October 2020, taking a massive pay cut and giving up her county benefits.
She said she never had any intention of leaving until Hope Petersen was appointed director of E-911 in January 2020, launching a tenure that employees have characterized as high-stress, unprofessional and hostile.
Petersen has worked as a dispatcher in Clarksville and Montgomery County since 1996. She was director of Robertson County dispatch from 2014-20 before being hired to her current position…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 20, 2021 | Comm Center News
Kirk Brueggeman, a police captain with 23 years of experience, has been named the next Director of Public Safety and the new chief of police in O’Fallon. In his role as director, he will be responsible for the city’s department that includes O’Fallon Police Fire Rescue, Emergency Medical Services and Metro East Communications, the 9-1-1 dispatch center for O’Fallon, Fairview Heights, and Shiloh. Brueggeman said he was grateful for the opportunity to serve and he looks forward to the challenge…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 20, 2021 | Comm Center News
By Brian Maass
DENVER (KCNC) — Denver’s 911 system is out of compliance with nationally recognized standards for answering calls as thousands of callers are finding themselves on hold when they call in to report an emergency.
Andrew Dameron, Denver’s Director of Emergency Communications, said “Obviously no one in the Department of Safety wants anyone to end up on hold when they call 911.”
A CBS4 investigation found it’s happening frequently…
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 20, 2021 | Comm Center News
(Updated 3:40 p.m.) Organizations representing Alexandria police and firefighters are taking the city to task for what they say are chronic underpayment issues that put local residents at risk, but city officials say the push is a negotiation tactic in the ongoing collective bargaining discussions.
Local labor unions Alexandria Committee of Police, IUPA Local 5, and Alexandria International Association of Firefighters Local 2141 issued a joint press release decrying current pay conditions.
“Alexandria’s starting salary ranks 19th out of the 20 Northern Virginia jurisdictions, and we’re seeing how that impacts recruitment and retention.” said Marcus Downey, Vice President of the Alexandria Committee of Police, IUPA Local 5. “Through the first 9 months of the year, we have already lost 30 officers who have left for better-paying jobs, but we’ve only been able to hire 11 replacements. In a city where the crime rate has increased 15% since 2019, it is a safety risk for the community, and for our officers, when we can only replace 1 out of every 3 officers we lose…
