EDACS Failure; you can't blame this on Obama

Oakland PD's EDACS system failed Monday as President Obama was leaving after giving a campaign speech. This left 100 officers who were keeping downtown protestors at bay unable to communicate.

Meh, who needs direct tactical channels...

Read more at sfgate.com

Fullerton releases Kelly Thomas 911 call

Wednesday, after months of speculation, the City of Fullerton released an audio recording of the now infamous "Slidebar phone call" that lead to the eventual death of schizophrenic homeless man, Kelly Thomas. The July 5th, 2011 call, from an employee of the Slidebar to the Fullerton PD, reported that a "creepy homeless guy", known as Kelly, was walking through the parking lot near the Fullerton transportation hub, pulling on car door handles. The female RP, who's name has been redacted, is believed to be a manager at the Slidebar.

picture from FullertonsFuture.org

Listen to the call here (right click to download) 

The recording was released after Fullerton resident Richard Dwyer filed a public records request in July, claiming that the caller was coached by the Fullerton PD to exaggerate Thomas' activities to quicken police responce. The recording does not show any coaching from the police dispatcher.

KFI's Mike Nolan involved in plane crash

KFI news is reporting that traffic reporter Mike Nolan "KFI In the sky," was involved in a plane crash this afternoon. Mike and one other person aboard were transported to the hospital and are in stable condition.

KFI reports that Nolan's single engine Cessna 182 had engine problems around 6:30 Friday afternoon and crashed, hitting some power lines, in a rural area near Corona. "Emergency officials say Mike and his passenger were extremely lucky," reported KFI reporter Amy King, the two were able to get out of the plane before it burst into flames. totaltrafficla.com is reporting that Mike "is in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries." Sounds like he may have some broken bones, but it sounds like he is in much better shape then his plane.

Press Enterprise story

KTLA 5 story

KABC 7 story

A 2002 interview w/ Mike Nolan

We hope you have a speedy recovery Mike!

Los Angeles Metro finally starts to get their act together!

I know this really has nothing to do with Disaster Communications but it is so rare that anyone in Los Angeles city government does anything right I felt that I needed to write something about it. 

thesource.metro.net has revealed that starting sometime this summer the Los Angeles Metro rail lines will begin running 'till 2:00 AM on weekends, and it appears that Metro is considering 24 hour rail service, but I'm not holding my breath.

71% of Americans agree that ignorance is bliss.

New Study Finds Americans Unaware of Local Disaster Communications

Despite a record-breaking year of federally declared disasters in 2011, including floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires, many Americans still lack basic awareness of their local emergency communications systems. At the BE Safe America Congressional Briefing presented by Safe America Foundation at the U.S. Capitol, Federal Signal Corporation today announced the findings of the 2012 Public Safety Survey, which takes a hard look at how knowledgeable and prepared Americans are for emergencies. While the survey found that more than 56 percent of Americans believe they are aware of the steps they need to take should disaster strike, the results uncover a shocking lack of knowledge—and even indifference—surrounding emergency alerts and notifications.


Read the entire press release here.

Pasadena PD now in the clear, sort of...

Yesterday the Pasadena Police Department released a press statement announcing a non encrypted ICIS talk group of 2485, this will allow the public to listen to the initial dispatch, incident type, location and time of Pasadena PD calls.

From the release:

The Pasadena Police Department is increasing its public information efforts by providing more crime statistic information on its website and the radio frequency codes for the public to listen to radio calls for service. 

Kings win Stanley Cup!

KINGS WIN!

Congrats to the Los Angeles kings for winning their first Stanley Cup! In related news LAPD is on city wide tactical alert, but for now it sounds like people outside Staples Center are behaving themselves. We'll see if anything happens after the sun goes down.