City of Rochester
News Release
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018) -- Mayor Lovely A. Warren was
joined by Acting 9-1-1 Director Stephen Cusenz, Rochester Police Chief Michael
Ciminelli and Fire Chief John Schreiber today to discuss issues pertaining to
the Trevyan Rowe case. The City’s Public Safety Team outlined fire
dispatch protocols that were not followed by 9-1-1 personnel.
“Last night I promised Trevyan’s family and this community
that I would do all in my power to get them answers into what transpired on that
fateful morning when Trevyan drowned in the Genesee River,” said Mayor
Warren. “That promise and that investigation began within City government
and we are extremely disappointed that established protocols were not followed
at our 9-1-1 Center. This failure is unacceptable and we have already
begun the process to correct these shortcomings to ensure a similar breach of
protocol never occurs again as well as to initiate disciplinary action against
those at fault.”
Acting 9-1-1 Director Cusenz outlined a timeline of
emergency calls related to Trevyan’s presence on the I-490 expressway and the
Frederick Douglass/Susan B. Anthony Bridge on the morning he went
missing.
Director Cusenz’s initial analysis of these calls has led
him to conclude that 9-1-1 policy was not followed and that the Rochester Fire
Department should have been dispatched as part of well-established protocols
related to individuals in peril. The required dispatch of the Fire
Department did not occur.
Six 9-1-1 employees have already been placed on
administrative leave from their positions, pending the outcome of a full
investigation with further disciplinary action to follow.
Additionally, the City of Rochester has created new
mandatory in-service training on this aspect of 9-1-1 dispatching to ensure
that all 9-1-1 personnel receive information on fire dispatch in these
circumstances and that they are tested on this information. That
in-service training started today and will be completed organization-wide
within the next two weeks.
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News Media: For more information contact Press Officer
Jessica Alaimo at 428-7135.