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SALT LAKE CITY — In the spring of 2014, employees of Salt Lake City's 911 Communications Bureau took their concerns about internal operations to city hall. They complained the workplace had become dysfunctional. The human resources department went to work and in a matter of weeks interviewed 70 members of the staff, including dispatchers who take 911 calls and relay critical details to police officers in the field.

Staff complained the bureau was spiraling out of control. When 911 dispatchers were asked by the human resources department how they felt things were going, 92 percent responded negatively, according to the findings detailed in the final report. It seems employees didn't hold back — "crazy," "morale is bad," "hostile," "catastrophic" and "extremely broken" were some responses.

Employees cited a number of internal problems, such as communication from management was lacking, staff was working overtime to the point of exhaustion, and new technology was causing frustrations.

Since then, several dispatchers have resigned.

"To be doing a hard job with low pay in an environment that's toxic — people don't want to do that," said Scott Freitag, director of Salt Lake City's 911 Communications Bureau. "They didn't want to stay. They didn't want to be a part of it."

Freitag told KSL Investigators he went to work to start addressing and fixing concerns. His list of projects included improving communication with employees, overhauling the training program, hiring more dispatchers, and forming committees including one to address concerns brought on by new technology.

New 911 procedures take effect

In 2012, prior to Freitag's tenure as director, the dispatch center implemented a new software program. Police ProQA changed the way your 911 calls are handled. It provides dispatchers a specific list of questions, in a specific order.

Dispatchers saw the procedures as too rigid, not fluid enough for dynamic situations, and they were now graded on how closely they stuck to a script.

"The dispatcher knows they're being graded on their calls so that's going to create some level of anxiety," said Lisa Burnette, deputy director of Salt Lake City's 911 Communications Bureau.

Before, dispatchers had more flexibility. They would ad lib through calls.

"You know there are pros and cons to everything," Burnette explained. "Sometimes they'd get the suspect description, sometimes they wouldn't. Sometimes they'd get the vehicle descriptions, sometimes they wouldn't."

Now, skipping questions or changing a script can get them dinged during a review.

"In order to continue to improve, you've got to know where you're at, you've got to know where your mistakes are," Freitag said. He went on to tell KSL Investigators no one has ever been fired for a mistake using the protocols.

Concerns mount for police department

Before departing as Salt Lake City's police chief, Chris Burbank had concerns. His department reviewed dispatch records and found call processing times had significantly increased.

Calls to 911 were spending more time in dispatch, according to the police department's review. In a canvass of officers, many expressed concerns too. They complained the procedures had slowed the flow of details to the field, put safety at risk, and the system could be frustrating to callers.

"You are dealing with people in crisis and that can never be forgotten," Burbank said. "It's a matter of expediting every resource you have available to help that person out."

Burbank was concerned the procedures were prompting dispatchers to ask less-relevant questions before gleaning critical information to relay to responding officers.

While listening to calls obtained by KSL Investigators, Burbank noted it took too long for dispatchers to ask for descriptions of suspects who'd fled crime scenes. He told us there's no way responding officers would know who to look for as they approached the area.

Conflict of Interest Opinion

What's the fix for 911 frustration?

In 911 calls obtained by KSL Investigators, callers offered up important details only to be asked again for the same information. One caller told the dispatcher twice that the suspect ran from the crime scene. But several minutes into the call the dispatcher asks how the suspect left the scene.

In another case, a 911 caller tried to warn the dispatcher a suspect vehicle had turned around and was heading back to the area, but the dispatcher continued to ask the caller what the suspect's clothes looked like.

Freitag told KSL Investigators some questions already have been removed from the protocols — like, "how did the shoplifter get to the store?" When we asked Freitag why that question was relevant, he said it wasn't and that's why it was removed.

His center has proposed 200 changes to the software, he added.

The software company, Priority Dispatch Corporation in Salt Lake City, outfits dispatch centers around the world with its ProQA software programs. It gave Salt Lake City's 911 Communications bureau the program to use for free.

Jeff Clawson, M.D., is chief executive officer for Priority Dispatch and he has been a proponent of dispatch protocols for decades. He says ongoing training of dispatchers coupled with suggestions from centers on how to improve the software are important.

"If you judge the implementation of any medical, police, fire, anything in the beginning, they want to throw the baby out with the bathwater," Clawson said.

Salt Lake City's 911 center is currently beta testing new updates to Police ProQA software.

No conflict of interest, city rules

Questions have been raised about Freitag and his service with a non-profit founded by Dr. Clawson.

Freitag serves as president of the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. He has disclosed his position with the Academies to city hall and Salt Lake's city attorney determined there is no conflict.

The city attorney's opinion noted Freitag volunteers on his own time and the city's agreement with the police software company happened before he was hired.

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