My First Reaction

I am a subscriber to two different e-mail lists for 9-1-1 folks and dispatchers. If you aren't currently a subscriber, I heartily recommend you join 'em. There's a wonderful network of public safety communications personnel ready to greet you, offer suggestions for problems, or just share your concerns. When you get a chance, head on over to these two sites to subscribe:

• The Console
• Dispatch Mailing List

Anyway, I gathered up the first news article and the 9-1-1 call(s) transcript into one e-mail package and posted it on these lists for my peers to see. By the next morning, there was another news article about Al Rousso awaiting my perusal in my personal e-mail account, and I posted IT as well.

Then I opened my favorite browser to check out the Charlotte Observer online and discovered the RealAudio files of the actual 9-1-1 calls themselves. I was appalled at what I heard. Those files aren't listed at the site any more, so here they are for you to listen to 'em yourselves. (You must have a RealAudio player AND be connected to the Internet to hear them!)

I wrote an e-mail letter, addressed to the reporter at the Charlotte Observer, with copies to the Dispatch Mailing List and the Charlotte, NC City Council e-mail address. It took me nearly two hours to compose it (I didn't want to sound like an hysterical crackpot, but I couldn't just continue to read news blurbs and not do anything about what I read and heard.)

It also took me a little while to locate the e-mail address for the Charlotte city council (I was looking for one specifically to Mr. Rousso, himself, but only the mayor has her own e-mail account). While doing this little search on the Internet, I also managed to find Mr. Rousso's snail-mail address and business and home telephone numbers, but decided not to use them in this campaign.

The next day there were a few more bits of news awaiting me in my e-mail account. (I subscribe to an online news-clipping service that looks for anything related to 9-1-1, public safety communications and highway patrol agencies.)

• The First News Article
• 9-1-1 Call Transcripts
• Follow-up News Articles
• What I did next...