Suit alleges abuse, sleeping by 911 dispatchers

Scroll to the bottom of the story to read documents from the lawsuits and hear the 911 call described below.

On March 15, a distressed man phoned into the Boone County emergency dispatch center, asking for police to come quickly as he was involved in a domestic dispute with his wife. He said he was calling, specifically, so officers knew he was not the aggressor and he would not go to jail.

But the dispatcher on duty, who is also a supervisor, told him that “maybe he should go to jail,” agitating the caller to the point where the two swapped the same name-calling profanity at each other. Last year, that same dispatcher was reported for sleeping on the job, including once during a police chase.

These accusations of misconduct, which law-enforcement representatives say could put them at risk, are at the center of two whistleblower lawsuits filed this week in Boone County Circuit Court by two other dispatch workers. That suit also alleges the supervisor was more apt to use such abusive and incendiary language with minority callers.

One of the plaintiffs, Kelly Preston, states in her suit filed Monday that she was mistreated, told to quit reporting the behavior and even suspended after she complained.

The other, Jeanne Fleek, makes those same claims, but also says she was the victim of racial harassment as a Native American.

The two women have had long careers with the Boone County Public Safety Communications Center. Preston has been there 18 years and Fleek 16 years. Both declined to comment through their lawyer Shane Sidebottom, who said the issue is about the safety of arriving officers and the public at large.

“This suit alleges and the dispatch tapes will likely show that minority callers are more apt to be subject to abusive language, which was directly placing the lives of responding police officers in jeopardy,” Sidebottom said. “These are not just two disgruntled workers. These are two long-term employees who have a concern about public safety in Boone County.”

The suit is against the Boone County Fiscal Court, which pays for and manages the dispatch center, and seeks compensatory damages and any improper disciplinary marks to be removed from their personnel files..

Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore said he had not yet seen the lawsuits and could not comment. The suits do not name the dispatch supervisor in question, but several sources identified her as Donna Wietholder.

Wietholder could not be reached for comment. Boone County dispatch officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The Enquirer obtained a portion of the recording of the March 15 call, on which the dispatcher is heard swearing and cursing and yelling back at the caller. The Enquirer has also requested a full copy from Boone County, which has yet to be fulfilled.

The caller initially asks for police to come to his house “right now because my wife is acting up.”

“If I don’t call, then I’m the one going to jail,” he says.

A few moments later, the dispatcher says, “The way you’re acting, maybe you need to go to jail.”

That appears to enrage the caller further. “Finish this call and get these (expletives) over here.”

“The (expletives) will be there in just a minute but you’re going to give me some information,” the dispatcher says at the end of the recording.

In addition to that instance, the suits allege the dispatcher fell asleep on the job several times, including during a police chase.

One national expert listened to the tape and said the techniques and temper shown “certainly were not good.”

“The biggest thing we teach dispatchers is to not shoot the messenger. ... Anyone reporting a call is having a bad day by definition,” said Dr. Jeff Clawson, the medical director for the Salt Lake City-based International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. “It’s our job to handle people having bad days. And one thing you can never do is judge the caller. That is never allowed in emergency dispatch.”

As for the accusations that the dispatcher fell asleep during a chase, Clawson said that raises several major safety issues.

“What happens if the officer calls off the chase and the word doesn’t get out because the dispatcher isn’t online?” Clawson said. “If that word isn’t relayed, another police car could be speeding along and crashes or hits a pedestrian.”

Boone County Sheriff’s spokesman Tom Scheben declined to comment on the specifics of the suit, but acknowledged such behavior could put his officers at risk.

“When it comes to chases, not having dispatch on the line is a hindrance because you are not in contact with other agencies telling them you are headed their way or to ask for assistance,” Scheben said. “And as for swearing or getting the caller worked up, just to know a dispatcher would do something like that ... yes, that could make it more dangerous.”

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