04-07-2009, 04:06 PM
PLANT CITY - A police captain, a sergeant and two dispatchers have resigned, retired or been fired after an investigation into a 911 call that Jennifer Johnson made to authorities from the trunk of her car before she was killed.
Sgt. James Watkins retired, dispatch supervisor Rita Lipham resigned and dispatcher Amanda Hill was fired after an investigation into how they handled the call Nov. 15, Police Chief Bill McDaniel said Monday. Capt. Darrell Wilson, who was the department's public information officer, resigned after it was determined he provided inaccurate information to the media about the department's response to Johnson's frantic call and about relevant departmental policies.
McDaniel said the outcome of the case might had been different if his department had handled the call properly.
Watkins and Lipham had about 20 years each on the force. Hill was a three-year employee. Wilson had worked for the police department for 16 years.
Hill was the dispatcher who took the 911 call, and Lipham was her supervisor that morning. Watkins was the patrol sergeant on duty.
Johnson, 31, made a call at 5:30 a.m. Nov. 15 from her cell phone while she was locked in the trunk of her car. The call was routed by the automatic 911 system to the Plant City police dispatch center. Her body was found in an abandoned Lakeland home three days later.
Johnson's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Vincent George Brown Jr., is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in her death. Johnson last was seen arguing with Brown at a Tampa nightclub Nov. 14 and at Brown's parents' house the next morning. Brown and Johnson had a 2-year-old daughter together.
Plant City police at first said through Wilson that they dispatched an officer to look for Johnson after her 911 call but later said they had not.
Hill was quoted in the media saying that police policy did not allow her to call Johnson back once the initial call was terminated. McDaniel said a call-back clearly was part of the policy.
Lipham, when notified of the 911 call from Johnson, did not have Hill attempt to call back Johnson as she should have, McDaniel said. Lipham did notify Watkins about the call from Johnson but took no further action, McDaniel said.
Watkins did not perform his job as a supervisor by having Hill attempt to re-establish contact with Johnson, McDaniel said, and he did not call his supervisor for guidance.
Johnson's call to Hill lasted one minute, 13 seconds before it was disconnected on the caller's end, McDaniel said. Hill "wasted valuable time" by repeatedly asking her location and not soliciting more information such as her name, police said.
Johnson's cell phone didn't have a GPS locater that would have pinpointed her position, but police knew that her phone's signal was received by a cell tower at Interstate 4 and Thonotosassa Road, police said. An officer should have been dispatched to that area, police said.
"Miss Johnson's 911 call was not handled appropriately," McDaniel said. "The breakdown occurred, not by policy or training, but by human failure to perform a job function as it should have been done. Basic information was not obtained during contact with the caller. And no attempt was made when the initial contact was broken."
McDaniel said dispatchers are put through a 16-week training course and given manuals and other material that can be used to assist them on the job.
"Our emergency communication center is state of the art," McDaniel said before providing a tour of the center for reporters at a news conference. "This was a human breakdown, not an equipment failure."
"Our policies, procedures and training provide our communication staff with everything necessary to respond to 911 calls," McDaniel said. "Knowing where a tower is does not mean that is where the caller is located. And Miss Johnson's cell phone did not allow us to track her movements. Our response was limited in that respect.
"But I am deeply disappointed that a failure is apparent in the actions taken by people in the department during this situation. Perhaps the outcome could have been different had we found out in a timely fashion the who, what, where and why Miss Johnson was calling."
It was Wilson who was assigned the job of investigating the Johnson 911 call and relaying information about the call to the media.
Wilson provided inaccurate information to reporters when he said the department's equipment did not record Johnson's cell phone number or the location of the cellular tower, McDaniel said. Wilson also gave inaccurate information when he told reporters that the department's policy didn't call for dispatching an officer when operators received a 911 call from a cell phone, McDaniel said.
When McDaniel was asked how he felt about losing employees, some he worked with for many years, he turned away from any personal feelings.
"I have to look at this as the department head of almost 100 employees," McDaniel said. "I am more concerned with the failure to do what is necessary to protect the public. I cannot look beyond that."
"We are in a life-and-death business," he said. "We have the responsibility to protect the public. Our 911 dispatchers are in a pressure-packed job. I am very disappointed that in this instance that job was not performed well."
Watkins-- Needed to go
Lipham -- Good dispatcher, Did the right thing, as usual with PCPD...still got hosed!
Hill-- Great dispatcher, really cared, going to be missed....Got screwed over!
Wilson-- Poetic Justice!!!
McDaniel-- self-preserving, political seeker, throw u under the bus to save my own ass jerk! Be a real leader and realize the "failure" of your people lies on your shoulders, accept the responsibility as your own and do the right thing...resign! :devil: :devil: :!:
Sgt. James Watkins retired, dispatch supervisor Rita Lipham resigned and dispatcher Amanda Hill was fired after an investigation into how they handled the call Nov. 15, Police Chief Bill McDaniel said Monday. Capt. Darrell Wilson, who was the department's public information officer, resigned after it was determined he provided inaccurate information to the media about the department's response to Johnson's frantic call and about relevant departmental policies.
McDaniel said the outcome of the case might had been different if his department had handled the call properly.
Watkins and Lipham had about 20 years each on the force. Hill was a three-year employee. Wilson had worked for the police department for 16 years.
Hill was the dispatcher who took the 911 call, and Lipham was her supervisor that morning. Watkins was the patrol sergeant on duty.
Johnson, 31, made a call at 5:30 a.m. Nov. 15 from her cell phone while she was locked in the trunk of her car. The call was routed by the automatic 911 system to the Plant City police dispatch center. Her body was found in an abandoned Lakeland home three days later.
Johnson's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Vincent George Brown Jr., is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in her death. Johnson last was seen arguing with Brown at a Tampa nightclub Nov. 14 and at Brown's parents' house the next morning. Brown and Johnson had a 2-year-old daughter together.
Plant City police at first said through Wilson that they dispatched an officer to look for Johnson after her 911 call but later said they had not.
Hill was quoted in the media saying that police policy did not allow her to call Johnson back once the initial call was terminated. McDaniel said a call-back clearly was part of the policy.
Lipham, when notified of the 911 call from Johnson, did not have Hill attempt to call back Johnson as she should have, McDaniel said. Lipham did notify Watkins about the call from Johnson but took no further action, McDaniel said.
Watkins did not perform his job as a supervisor by having Hill attempt to re-establish contact with Johnson, McDaniel said, and he did not call his supervisor for guidance.
Johnson's call to Hill lasted one minute, 13 seconds before it was disconnected on the caller's end, McDaniel said. Hill "wasted valuable time" by repeatedly asking her location and not soliciting more information such as her name, police said.
Johnson's cell phone didn't have a GPS locater that would have pinpointed her position, but police knew that her phone's signal was received by a cell tower at Interstate 4 and Thonotosassa Road, police said. An officer should have been dispatched to that area, police said.
"Miss Johnson's 911 call was not handled appropriately," McDaniel said. "The breakdown occurred, not by policy or training, but by human failure to perform a job function as it should have been done. Basic information was not obtained during contact with the caller. And no attempt was made when the initial contact was broken."
McDaniel said dispatchers are put through a 16-week training course and given manuals and other material that can be used to assist them on the job.
"Our emergency communication center is state of the art," McDaniel said before providing a tour of the center for reporters at a news conference. "This was a human breakdown, not an equipment failure."
"Our policies, procedures and training provide our communication staff with everything necessary to respond to 911 calls," McDaniel said. "Knowing where a tower is does not mean that is where the caller is located. And Miss Johnson's cell phone did not allow us to track her movements. Our response was limited in that respect.
"But I am deeply disappointed that a failure is apparent in the actions taken by people in the department during this situation. Perhaps the outcome could have been different had we found out in a timely fashion the who, what, where and why Miss Johnson was calling."
It was Wilson who was assigned the job of investigating the Johnson 911 call and relaying information about the call to the media.
Wilson provided inaccurate information to reporters when he said the department's equipment did not record Johnson's cell phone number or the location of the cellular tower, McDaniel said. Wilson also gave inaccurate information when he told reporters that the department's policy didn't call for dispatching an officer when operators received a 911 call from a cell phone, McDaniel said.
When McDaniel was asked how he felt about losing employees, some he worked with for many years, he turned away from any personal feelings.
"I have to look at this as the department head of almost 100 employees," McDaniel said. "I am more concerned with the failure to do what is necessary to protect the public. I cannot look beyond that."
"We are in a life-and-death business," he said. "We have the responsibility to protect the public. Our 911 dispatchers are in a pressure-packed job. I am very disappointed that in this instance that job was not performed well."
Watkins-- Needed to go
Lipham -- Good dispatcher, Did the right thing, as usual with PCPD...still got hosed!
Hill-- Great dispatcher, really cared, going to be missed....Got screwed over!
Wilson-- Poetic Justice!!!
McDaniel-- self-preserving, political seeker, throw u under the bus to save my own ass jerk! Be a real leader and realize the "failure" of your people lies on your shoulders, accept the responsibility as your own and do the right thing...resign! :devil: :devil: :!: