The Leon County Consolidated Dispatch Agency—or CDA—has fired three employees and suspended one more in connection with the shooting death of a sheriff’s deputy who responded to a Tallahassee fire last month. Nick Evans reports the agency released its internal review Friday.
When an emergency operator enters an address into the computer system, they can see a list of potential threats called premise hazards. The system noted a warning about officer safety for the Caracus Court address where a 911 caller reported a fire on the night of November 22, but the operators didn’t relay that information. A gunman shot and killed Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Smith as he responded to the scene. CDA Director Timothy Lee says there’s a lot the agency can learn from the incident, but he says there’s no excuse for the dispatchers’ oversight.
“Is the premise hazard going to be revisited? Yes. Are the enhancements going to be revisited? Yes. As part of our training curriculum will we go back and look at it? Yes,” Lee says. “But the employees have had this training. And they had it as part of their training as they came to the CDA.”
The agency fired three long-serving employees, with tenures of 10, 20, and 25 years respectively for their handling of the call. In addition, the agency suspended for two weeks a trainee who was involved in the dispatch. That employee will undergo retraining upon return.
