Flaws found at 911 center

PROVO — A long-awaited review by an international group found significant problems in Provo's 911 dispatch center, and the city is moving to hire more dispatchers, revamp the center's supervisory structure and improve training.

Poor communication among dispatch supervisors and with the division commander created conflicts and low morale in the center, according to a team of five professionals from the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO).

"This has resulted in an extremely negative work environment that has impacted even the newest dispatcher," states the report released Tuesday. "An environment that is seen in this manner will not provide a stable pool of personnel and will more than likely create a high turnover rate unless corrected."

The report also recommended supervisors be assigned to every shift and that the city hire a training officer and two additional dispatchers.

The city requested the APCO evaluation after a Provo dispatcher, since fired, botched Scott Aston's 911 call in October 2004. Aston was found dead in his Provo apartment four days after making the call.

Aston's sister, Carol Davis, said the report is vindication of criticism she and former Provo dispatch manager Dana Ferre leveled at the city after Aston's death. Ferre resigned in August when she decided change was coming too slowly.

The APCO team visited Provo for three days in June and sent its report to Provo police in November. Mayor Lewis Billings did not release the findings until Tuesday, after the Deseret Morning News requested the document on Jan. 5 through the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA).

"The staff and management of the Provo emergency communications center should be commended for the generally excellent performance on a daily basis," the report concludes, but goes on to say, "the communications center appears to have some challenges to reaching the goal of exceptional service on every call."

City officials said they began to adopt the APCO recommendations last summer based on a verbal preliminary report from the team, which included professionals from Virginia, Florida and California.

Their report recommended "significant change" in the organizational command structure, including putting a police lieutenant in the office to oversee the department.