Re: “Call-takers criticized for 911 calls in Powell tragedy” (TNT, 2-9).

It’s a very difficult time for the people in our community, following the tragedy of the Powell boys’ deaths. Thus, I try to be understanding of the emotions and desire to find someone to blame for such an incident.

In reality, there is someone to blame for this horrific event – Josh Powell. Attempts to lay blame on the 911 dispatchers, the case worker, the courts or anyone else is purely emotional, in my humble opinion.

Sure, 911 dispatchers might have immediately recognized this cell phone call as …

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Re: “Call-takers criticized for 911 calls in Powell tragedy” (TNT, 2-9).

In 2008, I worked briefly for the Law Enforcement Support Agency (LESA), the command center that receives the Pierce County 911 emergency calls. The 911 operators were the most professional group of people I had ever met.

One operator stood out not only for his professionalism, but also his kindness and compassion with every caller, regardless if the caller was drunk, confused, elderly or being threatened by violence. When I saw that David Lovrak was the 911 operator who received the Powell call, I broke down in tears …

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Re: “Call-takers criticized for 911 calls in Powell tragedy” (TNT, 2-9).

The training supervisor of Pierce County’s 911 support center makes sense in her defense of the way 911 call-takers are “supposed to sound.” They obviously need to remain calm, focused and able to persevere through verbal chaos on the other end of the line while obtaining necessary information to assist the caller.

But her explanation of using “slight Type-A personalities” provides insight into the use of folks who also may come from a typical black-or-white approach to their duty. I realize that this is an incredibly stressful job …

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Gov. Chris Gregoire is proposing a half cent increase in the sales tax, which would generate about $500 million annually to replace cuts in education funding.

Would it really replace education funds or would it fund other programs that would have been cut if education hadn’t been? Were they actually going to cut education funding by that amount?

Politicians have a knack for talking about emotional items when facing difficult decisions but leaving out other information. This allows them to move funds into other areas.

Supporters of the 911 proposal Pierce County voters passed in November said that 100 percent …

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I have been a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy for nearly 18 years. I know the administrations in Pierce County have kicked the can regarding our radio problem for years. They have either ignored it or just patched it temporarily. But did you know we are competing with a Canadian fire district for air time?

Now is the day of reckoning. Please place blame where it is deserved. We have elected officials who have not dealt with the problem.

Your deputies and officers need the radio fix. Just Friday I was dealing with a suicidal individual who was armed with a …

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As a firefighter, the events of 9/11 resonate intensely for me. In the report by the 9/11 Commission, it is clear that lives were lost due to poor communications and lack of radio interoperability between first responders.

However, little has changed since 9/11. In Pierce County, we have a patchwork of radio systems that provide limited opportunities for radio interoperability between first responders. Proposition 1 seeks to change this.

Proposition 1 provides the funding necessary to implement a single, interoperable radio system for emergency responders in every jurisdiction throughout Pierce County. Cities cannot continue to ignore the need to work …

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When there is an emergency in Pierce County, the first person on scene is not a police officer, firefighter or paramedic. The first to arrive at every emergency is the 911 dispatcher.

The county’s 911 dispatchers provide a critical role in patient care and scene management. They give directions to save a choking child, they deliver lifesaving CPR instructions and they obtain crucial information that helps to protect responding officers, just to name a few.

The 911 dispatchers in Pierce County are professionals in every sense of the word. They are the public’s lifeline to emergency services. If 911 dispatchers …

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Remember the rotary phone? Touch tone and wireless phones? Now we have cellular, Bluetooth, voice over internet, instant messaging, texting, and even video conferencing. What is the next gadget that will bring new opportunities and that we must have in order to keep up with the “Joneses”?

As a multiple user for requesting services through 911, I was relieved and grateful that there was a response to my need. Yet, many of our daily communication devices cannot be used to request life saving assistance because of the rapidly changing technology and lifestyles of today’s modern electronic “toys.” So I ask …

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