Local 911 issues delayed response to Parkland school massacre, official says

SUNRISE, FLA.—In the crucial first minutes after a gunman began shooting students and staff at a Florida high school, law enforcement’s response was hampered by quirks in the local 911 system that caused many calls from inside the school to be transferred, the chairman of a commission investigating the massacre said.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, chair of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, said Wednesday that the dual dispatch system used by the city of Parkland delayed getting responding police officers and sheriff’s deputies timely information during the Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 dead and 17 wounded.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, centre, chair of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, said that the dual dispatch system used by the city of Parkland delayed getting responding police officers and sheriff’s deputies timely information during the Feb. 14 shooting. (David Santiago / The Associated Press file photo)

Parkland, where the school is located, gets police service from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, and fire and paramedic service from the neighbouring city of Coral Springs, which also has a police department. Cellular 911 calls from Parkland go to Coral Springs. Those callers needing police are transferred to Broward County’s 911 centre. Almost all calls from Stoneman Douglas were from cellphones, which had to be transferred. That added about 30 seconds before each reached a dispatcher — if the call wasn’t disconnected.

Coral Springs is one of two Broward cities that aren’t part of the countywide 911 system. Gualtieri believes that needs to end.

“The problem is that you have not one truly consolidated 911 centre in Broward County,” Gualtieri said. “People who call 911 and need help immediately, the person who took the call cannot get them the help they need.” He said that is not unique to Broward — it is a problem nationwide, particularly with cell calls to 911.

After testifying before the commission, Shawn Backer, deputy chief of the Coral Springs Police Department, told reporters it is too early to say whether the bifurcated system created any significant delays in the response. He said Broward sheriff’s deputies and Coral Springs officers who responded to the school were quickly able to establish communications.