Lauderdale 911 Logs...Seriously?

We've always contended that a lack of information leads to many misconceptions, and the handling of 911 calls in Lauderdale County would seem to be a prime example of that. Other than the number of 911 calls (four) coming into dispatch concerning the June 8th boat crash, little that's been previously released seems accurate - causing many to blame the McBryer party unfairly in several ways.

According to the call logs on official record, the first call came in from a female passenger approximately two minutes after the crash. Why does the official transcript say almost 10:36, not 10:48 as in the handwritten call log? This is simply how it's done. Really? It took 12 minutes to write down a synopsis of a conversation. The three subsequent calls are similarly recorded several minutes after they came in. 

You can listen to the 911 calls on WAFF's website. Neither the female who called first nor the McBryer son who called second sounded impaired in any way. 

Three more criticisms of this whole debacle: Chad Dyer would appear to have bungled his end of the investigation. Is he withholding evidence due to medical privacy concerns? It's possible.

Then we have the deputy who told all of Lauderdale County and half the state that a certain Shoals attorney was at the marina that night with the McBryer party. We've never been able to discover his name, but no matter who the gossip is, Sheriff Rick Singleton needs to correct this problem.

We admire and respect Sheriff Singleton, but his deputies should know better that to disseminate any information about an active case. This has caused no end of problems for innocent people. How would you feel if this happened to you?

Oh, and let's be sure to add that Lauderdale County license commissioner Rodney Pettus has now been added to the list of conspirators helping some mysterious Mr. Big cover up something, whatever it may be. Tell us, Rodney, how much were you paid to sabotage the state boat registration system. Buying that condo in Orange Beach now? 

Finally, we have our own conspiracy theory: Someone has put something in Cypress Creek to make the citizens of Lauderdale County crazy.

Just What is Going on at the Lauderdale 911 Office?

The late humorist Lewis Grizzard once said he didn’t care who in the NFL took illicit drugs; he just wanted to be sure his dentist wasn’t hooked up to the nitrous oxide. So do you care if, when you ask to see the loan officer at your bank, his secretary says you’ll have to wait ten minutes until he finishes a little slap and tickle with the new teller in the vault? Probably not—at least it has very little effect on you.

How about if you have to wait five or ten minutes for your 911 call to go through because Officer Bubba Bilious from Bug Tussle is doing one of the dispatchers? Aha, now we have your attention.

We understand Lauderdale County Commissioner Danny Pettus has said there’s about to be a shake up at Lauderdale 911. We’ll have more on this later, but we have to ask why any employee would think a bit of the other was acceptable behavior while on the clock?

Stay tuned…

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In case you haven’t heard, the ACLU and the NRA are on the same side…yes, really. They both oppose using the “No Fly” list to ban gun purchases. The ACLU says why not add cell phones if we’re that worried about terrorism? 

Comparing a cell phone to a gun is extremely similar to comparing a gun to a jet that can be used as a weapon. Poppy cock! Phones and jets have reasonable uses other than to kill or maim. We support the Second Amendment, but if U.S. security is worried enough about a person to ban him/her from flying in this country, we’re pretty sure giving these people guns is not the best choice.

The Dispatch Dirty Deal

Yesterday we blogged of seven Lauderdale County employees who recently lost their jobs as dispatchers for the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department. We've been informed that the actual number was six--four full-time and two part-time. There's several layers to this story, and we will not be able to go into all of them today. Let's just say it will be interesting when each layer is carefully pulled back and examined.

As each question concerning these terminations is answered, three more are generated. While most citizens of the county have sympathy for anyone who loses a job, the bottom line for most is money. Isn't the consolidation a good move?

Yesterday we stated it was, and we still believe that to be true; however, the job title of "dispatcher" doesn't seem to cover adequately what these employees did for the sheriff's office. Here's a few of the extra duties these dispatchers performed:

1. Maintaining protection from abuse orders

2. Checking and pulling warrants

3. Assigning case numbers for reports

4. Maintaining officer overtime log

5. Running driver license and car tag numbers

6. Several other small clerical duties

Will the 911 dispatchers now handle this? We understand the Lauderdale EMA has firmly refused to consider doing so. That means not only will Lauderdale County now be paying 911 for its services, the county will also have to hire part-time clerical help for the above referenced tasks.

We also understand while Sheriff Ronnie Willis made a huge pretense of attempting to influence 911 to hire the terminated dispatchers, Lauderdale's 911 office had already hired the additional dispatchers needed before the termination was officially announced.

Are the fired dispatchers mad? Obviously they're not happy, but they are not vindictive. Will there be lawsuits? We don't know. We will follow the story as more develops.

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There are some reports around the courthouse that these dispatchers will not be allowed to draw their unemployment compensation. While the two part-time employees may not be eligible, the four full-time certainly should be. If any are denied, please contact us.



Shoalanda