Question for Law enforcment (highway patrol, sheriffs depts).

[almburr]

Last Friday night our High school was coming home from an away game which was 3 hours away. The bus broke down on I-70 around 1am. The weather was cold it was -11degrees. They were there for an hour with no heat. Our driver who is great called 9-1-1 and told them that they needed Highway patrol due to the fact that traffic was not getting over, the were not moving. dispatcher asked if he had flashers on driver said yes. Dispatcher then tells him you probably have parents following right? Driver replied yes. Dispatcher said there was no reason to send anyone out let the parents take the kids off. For liability reasons kids cant leave with other parents without permission from the parent ( but they did just to get them off this time due to the problem). Not all the kids were able to get off due to lack of room in personal vehicles. Highway Patrol did spot them and assisted. Driver was able to get the local school to lend us a bus to get the rest home, they ddidnt get home until 3:30am.

Here is the question.

If 9-1-1 is called shouldnt all calls be delt with by a law officer who will check it out and see if help is needed? And that dispatch cant make that call on what should be done?

On a side note where I work we have had problems with this county dispatch not relaying info. Highway patrol is is great in this area, they helped change a tire for one of the ladies I work with. He said it was safer for him to help, and he also said that is part of their job.

 

[maciec]

I am a police dispatcher and I can tell you in my jurisdiction a police officer would certainly be sent to help. We would also send one of our city busses to transfer the kids onto so that they would be warm. But that's us and I find that there are not many jurisdictions like ours.

In my centers opinion it is not up to us who gets help and who doesn't unless it is a service our officers just don't provide.

 

[almburr]

I am a police dispatcher and I can tell you in my jurisdiction a police officer would certainly be sent to help. We would also send one of our city busses to transfer the kids onto so that they would be warm. But that's us and I find that there are not many jurisdictions like ours.

In my centers opinion it is not up to us who gets help and who doesn't unless it is a service our officers just don't provide.

Thank you so much. I knew that was the answer. I think it is this certain county.

 

[Mandy_in_NC]

I am a 911 dispatcher and if it were me you would have gotten a Deputy and Highway Patrol Trooper. And anybody else that I could have found to help out. When somebody calls me for help that is what they get. It is not my job to decide who gets helps and who doesn't. Everybody gets helps.

 

[tinah159]

If 9-1-1 is called shouldnt all calls be delt with by a law officer who will check it out and see if help is needed? And that dispatch cant make that call on what should be done?

In our area the dispatcher can make the call on when to dispatch an officer. We would have sent 2 officers based on the information you listed. Our agency would not have called for backup transportation but the school would have moved all the kids to a safe and warm location. The officers would have stood by for traffic contol.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Another 9-1-1 dispatcher here. My jurisdiction is a bit different, and a bit warmer. We don't have such environmental extremes nor such long distances to travel. No interstate highways.

Here, a broken down vehicle might not warrant a dispatch at all. I could assist with calling a tow truck to be paid for by the stranded motorist and relay a phone message, as needed.

9-1-1 dispatchers make decisions based upon an accumulated set of circumstances. In the case of the OP, the environmental conditions are of a higher priority than the traffic obstruction. With traffic not moving it is possible that drivers approaching the gridlock could create a nasty accident. It would be preferrable to post a cruiser with lights far enough behind the backup to ensure that traffic can slow in time.

Finally, this assumes that officer(s) are available. There are only so many units and if this was a lower priority than other things happening at the time then the dispatcher may have been providing the best option given the circumstances.

 

[budmonster]

I am also a (retired) 911 police/fire/med dispatcher, I would have to say that each agency has their own policy to abide by. At my agency we were allowed to make decision based on our policy and the situtation at hand. I'm not sure how much the Trooper could have done besides just sitting there with lights on, which to me would cause a lot more rubber neckers thinking that something was going on. I'm glad that everything worked out in the end for you.

 

[manning]

11 below and they wouldn't send a car????

I would be asking a lot of questions. Any radio stations??

 

[budmonster]

11 below and they wouldn't send a car????

I would be asking a lot of questions. Any radio stations??

I'm just curious what is it that you think 1 patrol car will do... besides maybe some flashing lights behind the bus. They can't fit the kids into the patrol car. And why would you go stright to hey lets call a radio station ??? I would have to start questioning the owner of the bus. Why wasn't this bus in working condition considering the weather conditions and the fact that it was hauling children.

 

[almburr]

I'm just curious what is it that you think 1 patrol car will do... besides maybe some flashing lights behind the bus. They can't fit the kids into the patrol car. And why would you go stright to hey lets call a radio station ??? I would have to start questioning the owner of the bus. Why wasn't this bus in working condition considering the weather conditions and the fact that it was hauling children.

The school owns the bus, it is a large tour line type bus. The driver is the head bus driver and in charge of every bus we own. There was a big cold snap he started the bus a noon that day and kept it running til it died. It over heated and locked up the control panel shorted. They will have to repair at the cost of $16,000, towing was$450 It was just a problem with the bus, a freak thing. So now we are using the back up activity bus.
I dont know why we need to call radio stations, what good would that do.

All I wanted to know what a person in law enforcement thought of the situation. The Highway patrol was great when they spotted the bus, they had lights on to help with oncoming traffic.

 

[manning]

I'm just curious what is it that you think 1 patrol car will do... besides maybe some flashing lights behind the bus. They can't fit the kids into the patrol car. And why would you go stright to hey lets call a radio station ??? I would have to start questioning the owner of the bus. Why wasn't this bus in working condition considering the weather conditions and the fact that it was hauling children.

Simple, you send out a patrol car to assess the situation. Based on what you find out you take the appropriate steps to solve the problem.

As to asking questions publicly, with public pressure it would be more likely better procedures would be implemented.

Getting the patrol car on site was the key here. The officer would have been in better position to get help to them.

 

[shelbys mommy]

In my area, there has to be someone in law enforcement escorting the bus. I was a sheriff's office dispatcher & if someone were to call 911, the 911 dispatcher would patch the call through to whatever agency it needed to go to (state troopers, city police or sheriff's office). I would definitely ask some questions about this.

 

[disneymarie]

Here is the question.

If 9-1-1 is called shouldnt all calls be delt with by a law officer who will check it out and see if help is needed? And that dispatch cant make that call on what should be done?

On a side note where I work we have had problems with this county dispatch not relaying info. Highway patrol is is great in this area, they helped change a tire for one of the ladies I work with. He said it was safer for him to help, and he also said that is part of their job.

It is not a dispatch protocol to decide if, he should follow SOP for disabled school vehicle. THe minimal is a sheriff to acess the situation, see if there are flares out, call for a secondary EMS in case treatment for warmth needed.

They can get transported to a firehall. church, school. someplace off the Interstate where it is warm. Even a phone to call worried parents that were likely frantic.

Followup the time frame for a responding bus to be sent. THe students should not have been left on the bus in a dangerous area,
In the Pocono's 2 years ago we had a severe accident with the bus hit after a breakdown on an Interstate.

But that is our area and how dispatch has a set of who to contact, not IF to contact.
Complain to the county that pays them, an d have eval of how they could better have responded.