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Abstract
This study examines the gatekeeping role that public safety communication specialists (911 calltakers and dispatchers) play in the criminal justice footprint using systematic observations of one of the largest public communication centers in the U.S. Findings indicate that public safety communications professionals can play a significant role in initially shaping the criminal justice footprint, and can help to prevent that footprint from growing. However, organizational constraints, liabilities, and rules, as well as the expectations and beliefs of citizens and activities of police officers, can also inhibit this gatekeeping function. Recent assertions that citizen calls for public safety services might be easily diverted or prevented to reduce this footprint rely on significant changes to several policies, practices, and assumptions that have yet to be easily realized.
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Acknowledgements
We thank Roy Oliver, director of Fairfax County’s Department of Public Safety Communications, for his leadership and vision in coordinating the partnership supporting this research, as well as Donna Bird, Manuel Falcon, and Jon Ronan for their insights and assistance.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 There are other gatekeepers to the system as well. For example, law enforcement officers can take actions that divert or reduce an individual’s involvement in the criminal justice system. School officials and school resource officers are also examples, as they can choose not to activate police involvement for student disciplinary problems.
2 See https://www.911.gov/project_national911progressreport.html. See also National 911 Program (Citation2017, Citation2019).
3 Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard University professor, was arrested in 2009 for attempting to enter his own home. This arrest was made famous by the subsequent invitation to the White House by President Barack Obama of both Gates and Sgt. James Crowley, who made the arrest for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Department.
4 See also discussions more generally of the influence of technological frames on decision making by Orlikowski and Gash (Citation1994).
6 See https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/911/academy for details about what is covered in the DPSC academy.
7 Between 14 and 17 observations were conducted for each of the observation time slots, and between 7 and 11 observations were conducted across the seven days of the week.
8 Some calltakers were observed more than once, although we believe at least 20 unique calltakers were observed during the 62 hours of observation. The exact number is somewhat uncertain, given that our human subjects’ requirements prohibited us from recording the calltaker’s full name.
9 Some dispatchers were observed more than once, although at least 27 unique dispatchers were observed during the 67 hours of observation. The exact number is somewhat uncertain, given that our human subjects’ requirements prohibited us from recording the dispatcher’s full name.
10 For example, a call about someone carrying a gun could be referring to a person who is lawfully carrying a firearm or someone who is committing or about to commit a gun crime. An officer’s initial response to such a situation could vary greatly depending on the amount of information the dispatcher and initial calltaker are able to provide.