All photos Steven Ruttle
Critical Steps to Take Before Sending an Officer
CDE #34055
By Rhonda Harper
he definition of an emergency is
different for each individual—
one person’s emergency may be
another person’s non-emergency.
The 9-1-1 system has only been
around since the late 1960s and is still
relatively new, so continuing education is critical for both the telecommunicators handling the calls and the
general population.
Using 9-1-1
In a Jan. 1968 press conference,
AT&T announced the designation
of the numbers 9-1-1 as a universal
emergency number, but it was not
until Oct. 1999 that President Clinton
signed Senate Bill 800, which finalized
9-1-1 as the nationwide emergency
telephone number. 1 That’s a 31.5year span between implementation
24 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
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and finalization, a major gap in the
effort to educate the public on the
differences between an emergency
and a non-emergency.
PSAPs field calls every day that are
true emergencies: shootings, stabbings
and domestic disturbances, to name just
a few. But we must also acknowledge
the in-progress calls received daily.
Some callers dial 9-1-1 to ask for the
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS 25
Law Enforcement Communications
the primary goal for
telecommunicators
is to establish which
questions are really
needed on the various calls received.
time, report that their
food was made incorrectly, request a
polygraph test on a significant other
suspected of cheating or to simply
report that a neighbor smells and
should be made to take a bath (among
numerous other unsavory examples).
Alternatively, there are callers
who will take the time to dial a nonemergency number when an incident
is actually occurring, simply because
they don’t want to bother anyone. How
often do agencies place callers on hold,
after being given permission to do so,
only to find out the call was in fact an
actual emergency needing immediate
dispatch? When each of these potential
callers has their own perception of
what an emergency is or isn’t, how can
we get the general
public on the same
proverbial page? Is
it even possible?
Public safety emergency services
professionals must deal with a substantial gray area when determining
whether a call is a true emergency. This
essentially means that no two calls may
be handled in exactly the same manner. For example, when it comes to
Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD)
calls, there’s a specific protocol in place
to determine the questions that must
be asked and the directions that must
be provided to the caller depending
on the medical emergency. However,
the same isn’t true for requests for
law enforcement. When handling these
calls, common sense must be utilized as
to what questions should be asked and
which might not apply to the given set
of circumstances.
There are numerous tools that can
26 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
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be utilized within each
agency. An example would be
the APCO Law Enforcement Dispatch
Guidecards. These guidecards can be
adapted to provide a list of questions
that support the needs of an individual
agency. However, they still allow
room for interpretation and individual
judgment, and mainly serve as simple
assistance when the telecommunicator
is stumped or unsure of where to go
next in their questioning. Take, for
example, two different emergency calls
involving domestic disturbances. The
telecommunicator may ask questions
regarding vehicle descriptions in one,
but skip those questions on the next call
if there are no vehicles involved.
Thanks to the human element, no
two calls are exactly alike. In any given
situation, one small caveat can change
the course of how the telecommunicator conducts their call questioning or
how the call is handled. Ultimately,
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Cautionary Tales
Regardless of the incident or situation,
the single most important question to
ask on any call is, “What is the location of the emergency?” Without
the location, the
next
question
doesn’t matter
because we don’t know where to send
our responders. Wording is important
here. If the calltaker just asks, “what
is your address,” and not “what is the
location of the emergency,” the caller
may state their home address even if
they aren’t there.
Once the location has been obtained
and confirmed, the base level questions
can follow: Who, what, when, how and,
importantly, are there any weapons
involved? Asking about weapons is a
must to ensure responder safety. Even
if a caller is extremely calm, it does not
necessarily mean that they, or someone
else, won’t be holding a weapon when
responders arrive.
When calltakers skip the basic
questions and make assumptions early
in the call, mistakes can be made.
Any delay can result in serious injury
or death and increases the agency’s
liability exponentially.
It’s an unfortunate reality that we
sometimes hear news of 9-1-1 calls gone
wrong due to simple mistakes that could
have been avoided. Telecommunicators
falling asleep at the console, responders
sent to the incorrect location because
an address was not verified, responders
not sent at all because a call was
forgotten about, telecommunicators
hanging up the phone too early or even
sending the wrong type of emergency
response—any of these can cause a
potentially life-threatening delay.
One common problem has been
geographical issues resulting
from population growth. With
new neighborhoods popping
up all the time, there are
bound to be similar or even identical
location names. For telecommunicators
working in consolidated agencies and
dispatching for multiple service areas,
there may be several street names
that are the same or very similar from
city to city. As we all know, when a
call comes in, “seconds save lives,”
but if we rush without confirming
the exact location of the emergency
to report a burglary in progress, but
the calltaker recorded the incorrect
address and city. Officers responded to
the address they were given, and when
they arrived to no emergency situation
they cleared the scene and dismissed
the call. It was not until later that they
discovered the grave consequences of
the mistake that had been made: the
caller had been stabbed several times
and died from her wounds.
In another well-known case from
2008, a telecommunicator in Fulton
County, Ga., received a 9-1-1 call
from a woman in respiratory distress.
The telecommunicator stayed on
the line with the caller after sending
responders, but she had misheard the
woman’s location and had entered
Wells Street instead of Wales Street.
The two streets may sound similar, but
they are in two different jurisdictions,
and the confusion could have been
avoided if the calltaker had confirmed
the city. Responders eventually arrived
at the correct address after the dispatch
mistake was discovered, but there had
already been a 25 minute delay and
the caller had died of a pulmonary
embolism.3
In 2010, a 9-1-1 telecommunicator in Oakdale, Calif., dispatched fire
units to an address in the wrong jurisdiction after receiving a report of a
fire. In this case the same address is
duplicated in two cities serviced by
the same agency. The wrong city was
placed into the system after it was not
verified. The mistake was discovered
approximately three minutes after the
call was received,
but when another
telecommunicator took on the
responsibility of
dispatching the appropriate units to the
correct city, they dispatched the call on
the wrong radio channel. This series of
mistakes created a six minute delay in
responder arrival.4
Earlier this year in Colorado Springs,
a hiker reported seeing a fire smoldering while he was out hiking. The dispatcher told the caller that the Pueblo
Forest Service was already aware of
the fire and would be on the scene
Without the location, the next
question doesn’t matter
or asking the essential subsequent
questions, information can be missed
and responders can potentially be sent
to the wrong location.
Let’s not forget the case study of
DeLong vs. Erie County from APCO’s
Public Safety Telecommunicators 1,
Sixth Edition textbook.2 This was one of
the first lawsuits involving public safety
telecommunications, but it certainly
wasn’t the last. A caller dialed 9-1-1
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS 27
Law Enforcement Communications
shortly. Unfortunately, this particular
fire was a separate incident and the fire
service was never notified. The delay
in response was enough time for the
smoldering fire to grow into a wildfire
that burned for three days, destroyed
300 homes and killed two people.5
How often have we received calls
from citizens in our jurisdictions that
are reporting incidents near a location
where we already have a call for service? It’s easy to assume the calls are
stemming from the same situation, but
what if they aren’t? We must allow each
call to stand on its own merits and perform the proper call questioning until
it can be determined with certainty
that the call is a duplicate or must be
entered for dispatch into the system.
The risks of improper call handling are
too great to disregard.
Do Your Due Diligence
When dispatching for law enforcement agencies, there are two basic
types of calls—emergencies and nonemergencies—and each has different
sub-categories that determine which
questions need to be asked and which
questions may not be necessary.
The telecommunicator should remain
on the line during any in-progress call,
providing it does not place the caller
in danger, in order to get continually
updated and accurate information to
responders. If a situation occurs in
which speaking may not be possible,
ask the caller to keep an open line even
if they must be silent or leave the phone
behind if they must flee or hide. The
telecommunicator can put themselves
on mute so that the phone doesn’t give
away the location of a caller in danger—no noise will come through the
line, but the calltaker will still be able to
hear what is going on in the background
and provide valuable information to
emergency responders.
Just as every caller has their own
definition of what constitutes an
emergency, the same goes for their
description of time. As we all know,
time is of the essence and it doesn’t
take long for suspects to slip away.
One caller may state something “just
occurred” if the incident happened
within the last couple of minutes or
less, while another caller may consider
“just occurred” to mean within
the last 15 minutes. Providing an
accurate description of the time
28 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
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period of each incident allows
responders to be on the lookout for
potential suspects while en-route to
the location.
Firefighters and EMS responders are
different from law enforcement in that
they are not issued weapons to protect
themselves, other than possibly mace
or pepper spray in some jurisdictions.
Unfortunately, mace may not be
enough to stop someone from shooting
a responder or getting close enough to
stab or harm them physically. Providing
suspect descriptions to firefighters and
EMS personnel not only keeps them
safe, it also allows them to keep an eye
out while staging and waiting for the
scene to become secure.
Whether dealing with emergency or
non-emergency calls, the same basic
questions are universally required.
Again, location is the most important question on any call, followed
by the basics of who, what, why, how
and are there any weapons involved.
When dealing with non-emergency
◀ ▶ www.apcointl.org
calls, we never know exactly what the
caller will be reporting and therefore each question will then spur the
next until all appropriate information
is obtained. Always remember that
emergency calls can also come in over
administrative or non-emergency lines.
Training & Education
The need for 9-1-1 education throughout our communities is paramount in
understanding the correct usage of
9-1-1, when to call 9-1-1 and when
to utilize non-emergency numbers.
Each dispatch agency should have its
own set of policies
and
procedures
that dictates how
calls are handled.
Some agencies are
allowed to screen their calls, weeding
out those that deal with civil issues
or other factors not handled by law
enforcement. Other call centers are
not given any choice and must take any
call requesting an officer, regardless of
the situation.
At my agency, we try to provide
our callers with the proper nonemergency information when they call
in on emergency lines for situations
that aren’t actually emergencies.
Unfortunately, no matter how often we
do this, some people continue to dial
9-1-1 for non-emergencies. Still, each
call must be taken on its own merit,
regardless of how many times we’ve
heard from that caller with a false
emergency, because ignoring an actual
emergency call just one time can place
a significant level of liability on both
the dispatcher and the agency.
We’ve already discussed the risks in
making assumptions and not triaging
each call as it comes in, so the question
then becomes, “How can we avoid all
of these negative potential outcomes in
the first place?”
Institute. Consider hosting a course at
your agency, as this not only grants
your agency one free training session
for confirmed and full classes, but also
allows your agency to get to know other
agencies from the surrounding areas.
Citizens in our jurisdictions believe
that when they call for an officer one
should appear instantly. How often
have we received calls from someone
stating they have waited more than 30
minutes, when in actuality they have
only been waiting five or 10 minutes?
When this occurs, what is your
response? To avoid liability and still
provide customer
service, I generally
state, “We have
your call, we have
not forgotten about
you and we will send an officer as
soon as one is available.” This allows
your caller to understand that we are
aware of their call, care about their
call, and have not been forgotten about
them. This approach will typically
assist with most callers. However, we
sometimes receive the occasional caller
who, regardless of what we say, is only
focused on the fact that the officer has
not yet arrived.
Every caller has their own
definition of an emergency
The simple truth begins with knowing and understanding the policies and
procedures unique to your own agency.
The next step is training. This step
cannot simply occur once and never
be touched on again. Within the public
safety profession, technology and our
communities are continuously changing, and we must change with them in
order to stay ahead of the curve.
Knowledge is not necessarily power.
We have all worked with, known or
recognized people who have been at
an agency so long they won’t share
information for fear of becoming
obsolete. Everyone must
learn how to accomplish
tasks, not just
one individual.
Working
as a telecommunicator is a
team effort.
Whether you
are the sole
dispatcher at
your agency or
you work with
several others on
a shift, you are
not alone.
There is a lot
of training available and one great
resource is the APCO
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◀ ▶
The Future
As much as we want to help in most
situations, we are limited by our
resources. So the attitude of, “What’s
the big deal, we’ll just send an officer”
may overwhelm our available resources.
In the current economy, budgets are
still being cut and over the past few
years something has occurred that I
never thought would actually happen:
Officers have been laid off from
departments across the country.
In the end, there is a significant
level of liability that accompanies our
industry and the jobs we perform every
day. Always follow your agency’s policies
and procedures and always confirm
the location of the emergency. Finally,
take a proactive role in community
education about 9-1-1 information and
the proper usage of this valuable tool.
We need to work together to minimize
the number of non-emergency calls
that tie up emergency lines. ∥PSC∥
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS 29
Law Enforcement Communications
RHONDA HARPER, RPL, is the communications
CALEA accreditation manager for the Fort Smith
(Ark.) Police Department and an APCO Institute
adjunct instructor. Contact her at rhonda.
harper@fortsmithpd.org.
REFERENCES
1. Allen G. (n.d.) History of 911. Dispatch
magazine online. Retrieved on Aug. 15, 2013,
from www.911dispatch.com/911/history/.
2. APCO. Public safety telecommunicator
1, sixth edition.
3. Bennett DL and Garner M. (Aug. 6,
2008). Ga. woman on phone dies after 911
dispatcher mistake. EMS1.com. Retrieved
on Aug. 15, 2013, from www.ems1.com/emsproducts/computer-aided-dispatch-CAD/
articles/423354-Ga-woman-on-phone-diesafter-911-dispatcher-mistake/.
4. Botto M. (Dec. 27, 2010). Dispatcher
mistakes found after dispatch delay. Dispatch
magazine online. Retrieved on Aug. 15, 2013,
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1. President
Nixon signed Senate Bill 800, which finalized 9-1-1 as the
nationwide emergency telephone number.
a.True
b.False
2. A
T&T designated the numbers 9-1-1 as a universal emergency
number in what year?
a.1966
b.1972
c.1968
d.1999
3. One of the first lawsuits involving public safety was:
a. Erie vs DeLong County
b. DeLong vs Eried County
c. DeLong vs Erie County
d. Erie County vs DeLong County
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visit www.apcointl.com/institute/webinars.htm. Current APCO members receive a $20
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5. I n 2013 a camper reported possibly leaving a fire smoldering in the
Pueblo Forest.
a.True
b.False
1. Study the CDE article in this issue.
6. P
roviding descriptions to firefighters and EMS personnel allows
them to watch out for the suspect and report to law enforcement
while keeping a safe distance.
a.True
b.False
7. Emergency calls come in on emergency lines only.
a.True
b. False 8. Common sense has no place in public safety communications.
a.True
b.False
9. S
enate Bill 800, which finalized 9-1-1 as the nationwide emergency
number, was signed into law in which year?
a.1968
b.1992
c.2001
d.1999
4. In 2008, a 9-1-1 caller in Fulton County, Ga., died from:
a. Pulmonary embolism
b.Shooting
c.Stabbing
d.Fire
Using the CDE Articles
for Credit
Fire Service Communications 1st Ed.
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Illuminations
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from www.911dispatch.com/2010/12/27/
dispatcher-mistakes-found-after-dispatchdelay/ and http://pdf.911dispatch.com.
s3.amazonaws.com/oakdale_fire_review.
pdf.
5. Hendrick T. (April 30, 2013). Report: 911
dispatcher made mistake reporting Waldo
Canyon Fire. Fox 31 Denver. Retrieved on Aug.
15, 2013, from http://kdvr.com/2013/04/30/
report-911-dispatcher-made-mistake-reporting-waldo-canyon-fire/.
1 0. What is the most important question to ask on any call?
a. Who is involved?
b. What is going on?
c. Where is the location of your emergency?
d. Are there any weapons involved?
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2.Answer the test questions online or
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click on “Public Safety Communications
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS 31