Greenville Police mourns the loss of telecommunicator (NC)

by | Sep 20, 2021 | Comm Center News

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – Greenville Police is mourning the loss of an “invaluable member of the GPD family,” telecommunicator Brad Cayton, who died overnight, the department announced on Sunday.

Cayton, who was an emergency dispatcher, worked for more than 20 years and was known as someone who “dedicated his life to helping others in criss and even solved many a crime,” GPD said.

Cayton leaves behind his wife and children.

Greenville Police said there will be more tributes to follow… READ MORE

Manchester officers push against move to regional dispatch | News | gloucestertimes.com

by | Sep 20, 2021 | Comm Center News

MANCHESTER — Members of the Manchester Police Department are still hesitant about the town looking to take its public safety dispatch operations to the North Shore Regional 911 Center in Middleton.

Selectmen and Town Administrator Greg Federspiel hosted a forum from last week to field questions from the public regarding the future of Manchester’s dispatch center. The town and fire Chief Jason Cleary would like to have two dispatchers on per shift, rather than the current one, who handles dispatch duties for the Police and Fire departments.

“Our objections to regionalization have always been about putting the needs of the community we serve first,” said Manchester police lead dispatcher Katie Elwell, on behalf of her fellow dispatchers, during a public forum Tuesday. “We do not believe that our community will achieve better services by joining an unproven and untested regional center with towns with which Manchester has minimal connections to. We perform services and take calls for residents that faceless outside dispatchers are simply not equipped to answer…

911 dispatcher accused of distributing child pornography (FL)

911 dispatcher accused of distributing child pornography (FL)

by | Sep 20, 2021 | Comm Center News

Cover picture for the article

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WKRC/WJXT/CNN Newsource) – A sheriff’s dispatcher is facing federal charges after he was accused of distributing child pornography.

The FBI released an affidavit Friday involving a complaint of child porn distribution by a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office dispatcher named Scott Matthew Yotka.

News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson is a former sex crimes detective for the sheriff’s office… READ MORE

Atlanta Man Calls 911 After Being Shot, Gets Placed On Hold Multiple Times (GA)

by | Sep 20, 2021 | Comm Center News

Being put on hold for any reason can be annoying in itself, but a whole different issue arises when that phone call is a potential life or death situation.

One restaurant worker in the Buckhead area of Atlanta got an unfortunate example of that feeling by the Atlanta Police Department when his 9-1-1 call after being shot while on a lunch break was met with a “please hold” response.

As FOX Atlanta reported last week, a waiter at Mediterranean seafood restaurant Kyma says he witnessed two men trying to enter a car while on his 7:30PM break. Once spotted, the man was shot before both men sped off in a getaway car. Thankfully, he wasn’t fatally injured in the ordeal as the bullet only struck his arm.

As he dialed 911 for help, his calls were repeatedly met with an automated recording telling him to hold, which laster for way longer than anyone should have to wait during an emergency… READ MORE

Grand Rapids Police Department seeks state accreditation (MI)

Grand Rapids Police Department seeks state accreditation (MI)

by | Sep 20, 2021 | Comm Center News

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A team of assessors from the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission will arrive in Grand Rapids on Thursday, Sept. 30 to “examine all aspects of the Grand Rapids Police Department’s policies, procedures, management, operations and support services.”

If the agency achieves MLEAC accreditation, it will be the fourth such program for the department, according to a news release Monday.

Chief Eric Payne says he’s confident GRPD will exceed MLEAC’s “best practice” standards…

The Rocky Road to a More Robust 911 System | The Crime Report

The Rocky Road to a More Robust 911 System | The Crime Report

by | Sep 20, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News

911 dispatcher. Photo by Scary Side of Earth via Flickr

Underfunding and understaffing cripple 911 call centers across the country, and increase the likelihood that incomplete or inaccurate information will trigger a fatal response from police,  according to researchers.

Harold Pollack, co-director of the Transform 911 project, said the lack of resources was complicated by the fact that emergency dispatch centers often aren’t on “equal footing” with law enforcement, fire departments, and emergency medical services — a disparity that further undermines their effectiveness.

An average 911 call lasts about ten minutes — not nearly enough time to talk a caller through a mental health crisis, he said…