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Slaying Case Shows 911 System Faults

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By ZAC ANDERSON, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

CHARLOTTE COUNTY - The reliability of Charlotte County's 911 system came into question Friday after more details were released about an emergency call that might have saved the life of slain North Port mother Denise Lee.

An internal sheriff's office investigation revealed breakdowns that can be common if employees are not properly trained and retrained, according to one emergency response expert.

No sheriff's squad cars were sent to investigate what the caller described as a potential abduction, and Lee's alleged murderer escaped into the night.

The internal investigation report identifies human error as a major culprit, but also shows potential weak spots in the system that may have been fatal in Lee's case.

A shift change in which one group of employees was leaving and another was arriving partly explains why the call was lost.

The report concludes that the 911 call's importance was not properly communicated to employees on the incoming shift, though Sheriff John Davenport refused to answer questions about whether any changes or training have been mandated to ensure better communication in the future.

Naples-based law enforcement expert William Gaut said shift-change errors can be a common problem if police departments are not careful.

"It happens too many times," said Gaut, who supervised 130 detectives as a police captain in Birmingham, Ala., and testifies about police procedures in legal cases. "Most police departments try their best to convey that a dispatcher needs to stick with the call, even if it means an extra 15 minutes of work, but it can require some retraining."
Gaut said other actions in the 911 center connected with Lee's case deserve more scrutiny.

Before the shift change, 911 call operator Mildred Stepp stood in the call room and told radio dispatcher Susan Kallestad that she had an important call that needed to be relayed to deputies on the road.

That is another breakdown in the typical procedure, Gaut said.

With most 911 calls, the operator sends a computer alert to the radio dispatcher. If the call is high priority, the operator can flag the computer message as a "priority one call."

Stepp told investigators it was quicker to walk over and speak with Kallestad directly.

Gaut, however, said radio dispatchers are trained to read the computer messages. Verbal communications can be lost amid the radio chatter.

"Put it in writing rather than just yell it out," Gaut said. "Spoken words to a radio operator are meaningless if the operator is talking to other dispatchers or a patrol car."

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