Were 911 dispatchers asleep at the console?

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — Surveillance cameras have been installed in an Ohio 911 call center following reports that dispatchers may have been sleeping on the job.

A recent internal report showed an operator at the center in southwest Ohio’s Warren County was probably asleep before taking an August 2008 call that a woman had drowned in a bathtub. The woman’s husband is now awaiting a retrial in her death. The report said the response to the emergency would not have been different if the dispatcher had been more alert.

Another dispatcher suspected of sleeping on duty was put on paid leave last week and faces a disciplinary hearing Wednesday.

County Commissioner Dave Young says the cameras should end the questions about whether dispatchers are doing their job.