Citizens ready to answer the call can now apply to be public safety dispatchers for the Henrico County Divison of Police, which opened applications for the role April 2. Public safety dispatchers, known as communications officers in the division, are the critical link...

In March of 2020, Wexford County Central Dispatch moved into a new state of the art 911 Communications Center located in Cadillac, the communications center is staffed 24/7 365 days a year with 2 dispatchers on duty at all times. Wexford County Central Dispatch provides fire, police and medical dispatching services for all Wexford County emergency service agencies. We replaced our legacy analog phone system with an IP based system that brings enhanced redundancy and survivability in support of Next Generation 911 concepts, including Text to 911. We also replaced antiquated radio consoles with new Zetron Max dispatch positions, using the Michigan Public Safety Communication System (MPSCS), and all agencies have switched to 800MHz radio and paging devices within Wexford County.
In addition to dispatching for all Wexford County Emergency Agencies, dispatchers at Wexford Communications perform dispatch services for multiple public works agencies including: Wexford County Road Commission, Cadillac Street Department, Cadillac Utilities and Lake Mitchell Sewer Authority. Dispatchers also enter, hold and maintain all Wexford County Court paperwork like Warrants, Probations Orders, and PPO’s just to name a few.
Dispatchers are responsible for receiving and prioritizing emergency and non-emergency telephone calls, dispatching fire and medical resources, performing Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) and managing radio communications.

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NJ - At its March 16 meeting, the Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners approved funding of (not-to-exceed) $47,741.49 to vendor Murray Paving & Concrete to construct and complete walkway improvements at the Rt. 12 Hunterdon County Complex’s...

A report found 30% of 911 calls were put on hold last year, but Dispatch Manager Maureen Ramsey said the problem goes even deeper.

The Oneida County Sheriff’s office will be celebrating its telecommunications personnel next week during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, April 11-17. “National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is a great opportunity to reflect on the important role...

The Ann Arbor City Council is considering sending unarmed mental health workers or social workers to nonviolent 911 calls. The proposal emphasizes the importance of having mental health professionals present instead of the police when the caller is having a mental...

New Iberia Police Department Celebrates National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

Matthew Brown moved to High Point in 2002 working for the department for 18 years before his recent medical retirement. He died early this week. HIGH POINT, N.C. — Friends and co-workers of the retired High Point emergency dispatcher who died this week described him...

Kaitlyn's creative hobby is watercoloring. Others she works with say they like to spend time with their friends, just like she does. About 10 feet away from her sits co-worker Andy, who plays ice hockey and softball in his spare time. They're two of about eight...

Tuesday marked a day of firsts for the Cleburne Police Department and the North Central Texas Emergency Communications District’s annual 9-1-1 Awards Ceremony. The North Central Texas Emergency Communications Districts, also known as NCT9-1-1, for the first time in...

NORTHFIELD — Members of the Emergency Services Facility Committee are investigating three potential properties to house a shared facility for the Fire, Police and EMS departments. Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III and fellow committee members recently discussed one...

CLEVELAND — New technology is on its way to help Cleveland area first responders.AT&T is adding to its FirstNet, first responder network.FirstNet is a high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose-built for first responders and the extended public safety community.The network was launched three years ago to alleviate any congestion or communication problems that can arise in an emergency situation.Beginning in April, FirstNet is now adding 5G connectivity. The 5G connectivity will ultimately bring a combination of benefits like ultra-low latency and ultra-high speeds to support a variety of users.AT&T is also adding security features to the network, and Cleveland is one of two cities to have the features first.FirstNet will be the first-ever nationwide network with comprehensive network encryption. That means FirstNet traffic will be automatically secured as it moves throughout the entire network.Commercial networks may encrypt parts of the communications pathway, but only FirstNet will have encryption along the entire route.“We all sat there and witnessed what happened in 9/11,” said President of AT&T Ohio Brad McLean. “We certainly want to make sure those who are on the frontlines, our first responders, are getting the services they need to adequately respond during those times.AT&T says this network works as a dedicated high-speed lane on the highway.Emergency responders will even be able to send real-time data, like from an ambulance carrying a patient to a hospital where that patient is headed.Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We’re also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.

Former longtime 911 Central Dispatch Director Gay Murrell has filed a federal lawsuit alleging breach of contract as well as age and sex discrimination over her March 2020 termination.The lawsuit was filed in early March in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Tennessee in Greeneville.Murrell worked for Hawkins Central Dispatch for 27 years and spent the last 19 as the director. The 911 board voted at their March 12, 2020 meeting to terminate Murrell for breach of contract.At that meeting, then Chairman Mike Herrell reported to the board that Murrell had allowed dispatchers who had not yet obtained EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatching) certifications to answer emergency 911 calls.When a person calls 911 with a medical complaint, the dispatcher goes to a complaint guide card and it directs the dispatcher to ask specific questions about that person’s complaint.Depending on how the questions are answered results in how the dispatcher sends an ambulance — emergency or non-emergency.Someone who is not EMD certified is basically a lay person advising an ambulance if they need to respond emergency or non-emergency to a medical complaint, the Review’s source said.Though all staff were back in compliance with EMD certifications in just a few days, the board noted at the time that this process cost Hawkins Co. Emergency Communications Department (HCECD) around $8,800 and could easily have led to legal ramifications.As a result of these actions, the board concluded that Murrell had breached her contract and voted 6-1 to terminate her.Lawsuit alleges board didn’t have “good cause” for terminationThe lawsuit, which was filed by Morristown attorney Braxton Terry, alleges that, “On March 12, 2020, without any warning or prior notice, [the board] abruptly terminated [Murrell’s] employment as Director.”It also alleges that, prior to her termination, Murrell “had not been counseled or issued any written warnings for policy or procedure violations” and “had not violated any of [the board’s] policies as Director.”It further states that the board did not have “good cause” to terminate Murrell, who was awarded unemployment benefits last July by the Appeals Tribunal of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.The lawsuit quotes from the Appeals Tribunal’s decision, noting that, “At the Appeals Tribunal hearing, little, if any, evidence was presented by the Employer that the Claimant [Murrell] was either insubordinate or failed to follow the Employer’s policies.”Murrell’s employment contract with the 911 board had specified that, in the event of termination without “good cause,” Murrell would be paid a lump sum of severance in the amount of salary she would have received until the end of her contract, which was set to expire on Oct. 1, 2022.The contract did note that, in the event of termination with cause, the Director would not be paid any severance pay.Through the lawsuit, Murrell is seeking pay and benefits she would have received from the severance agreement as well as interest and compensatory damages for the 911 Board’s “indifference to Murrell’s protected rights.”The lawsuit also alleges that Murrell has suffered “lost wages, lost benefits, lost interest on wages and benefits, inconvenience, embarrassment, humiliation, anguish, loss of lifetime earning capacity.”Sex, age discriminationThe lawsuit goes on to note that, after Murrell’s termination, the board “hired a significantly younger male who is known to have been in his late thirties” to replace Murrell.As the Review previously reported, the 911 board voted in April of 2020 to hire Douglas Boone as the new director.The 911 board received a total of seven applications when the position was advertised, but the board’s personnel committee narrowed this list down to three finalists. The board made the final decision after interviewing the three finalists on in a closed-door executive meeting. Boone received the majority, with a 5-2 vote.However, Boone resigned from the position, effective on March 5 of this year. He noted in his letter of resignation that, due to an illness in the family, he desired to find a position closer to home.The board is currently looking for a replacement director. Herrell told the Review that the board is set to interview three potential candidates on April 18.Months of disagreement, conflictMurrell’s termination followed months of disagreements and conflict between Murrell, members of the 911 board, and several Hawkins Co. officials.As the Review previously reported, in September of 2019, Hawkins Co. Mayor Jim Lee refused to sign the Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement between the county and Hawkins County Central Dispatch until Murrell released bank statements, credit card statements and salaries to Lee.911 Board member and Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper David Good told the board in September of 2019, “I was talking to Mayor Lee before I came here. I’m going to tell you word for word what he wanted me to tell you. He said that, as long as Gay is 911 director and still employed here, he will not sign the contract.”After some back-and-forth, Good added, “Well, like I said, that’s what he said. The fact that she (Gay Murrell) can’t ever get a budget done right and has never passed an audit in the last several years. He’s just not going to sign it …”“Until I’m gone?” Murrell asked.“Yep,” Good replied.However, when the Review spoke with Lee, he explained, “I can’t fire Gay Murrell. That’s not my job — that’s the board’s job if they decide to do that. I’d like to see her records and then we’ll move forward. If we look at it and everything looks good, we’ll move on, we’ll go with the contract (between Murrell and the 911 board that governs her employment). If not, we’ll stop and correct the problem.”When the Review spoke to Murrell at the time, she explained “we (Central Dispatch) has never failed an audit. We had one finding. As with any other audit, it is on the comptroller’s website. It’s all there. It’s public record. Everything is public record. It’s all right here. What is spent. Salaries. Everything.”The records were given to Lee in November of 2019.Lee later told the board in January of 2020 that he had turned in Central Dispatch bank statements for the past three years to the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury on Jan. 8, 2020, regarding unspecified “inconsistencies” which the Mayor claims he noticed in those documents. This investigation has not yet been completed.