YOUNGSTOWN YPD suspends dispatcher for delayed response

The lieutenant in charge will have a predisciplinary hearing.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A police dispatcher who delayed sending officers to the scene of an armed robbery on the South Side has agreed to a three-day suspension.
An investigation by the Youngstown Police Department Internal Affairs Division concluded that Patrolman Jerry Fulmer violated two departmental rules, Capt. Martin F. Kane, IAD commander, said Thursday. The investigation found violations of the contract that address neglect of duty and incompetence, Kane said.
Fulmer, 26, is a two-year veteran of the department. He loses roughly $420 for the three days off.
Kane said Lt. Bill Centric, the turn supervisor, declined to accept a three-day suspension and faces a predisciplinary hearing. The IAD investigation showed that Centric should have been aware of an urgent call that needed attention, Kane said.
Susan Boyd, a 34-year-old mother of five, was robbed of her purse at gunpoint in her East Philadelphia Avenue driveway Sept. 19. She believes if police had arrived within a few minutes they had a good chance of finding the robber, who arrived and left on foot.
Time line
Boyd called 911 at 9:36 p.m. The call wasn't dispatched until 9:58 and police didn't arrive until 10:22 -- 46 minutes after the crime took place, records show.
Kane said the 911 call taker passed along via computer the information to Fulmer, who read it but misinterpreted the serious nature of the call. In the same time frame, Fulmer dispatched cruisers to handle a burglary-in-progress and domestic dispute, Kane said.
When Fulmer dispatched the call to East Philadelphia at 9:58 p.m., 22 minutes after the crime was reported, the beat cops assigned the call explained that they would be downtown "a while" because they were working with one of the new YPD onboard computers in their cruiser.
Kane said Fulmer could have dispatched someone else or ordered those officers to go immediately.
To Fulmer, the East Philadelphia call wasn't a priority call, it was a call to take a report; he just missed the gun involved, Kane said.
The officers, after correcting the problem with their onboard computer, left the YPD garage at 10:13 p.m. and arrived at Boyd's house at 10:22 p.m.
During that time, calls poured into the 911 center from Boyd's neighbors.
Speed was important
Lt. Robin Lees, YPD spokesman, said it was important for officers to get to East Philadelphia address quickly and broadcast a description of the suspect.
"We all make mistakes and we have to pay for them," Lees said. "We identified weaknesses in training."
Lees said the time off isn't used as punishment, it's used to change conduct. He said Fulmer has no other discipline on his record.
Fulmer's days off will be negotiated so they don't affect the operation of the police department, Lees said.
After the delayed response, Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. eliminated roll call, a 15- to 20-minute segment at the beginning of each shift. Supervisors now use other ways to share information. He said eliminating roll call eliminates down time during shift changes.
The chief said scheduling would be rearranged to put more officers on duty for Friday and Saturday, traditionally the busiest days. Also, radio dispatch procedures would be reviewed with the idea of implementing more training where needed and reinforcing the role of the dispatcher.
meade@vindy.com