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Feb 24, 2008 10:26 pm US/Central
Dallas Dispatch System Under Internal Review
Sources Say Invalid Address Delayed Ambulance To Officer's Aid
Dallas PD, Fire Rescue To Review Dispatch System On Monday
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
CBS 11 News has learned the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Fire Rescue are conducting an internal review after a mix-up in the dispatching of emergency crews to the scene where Sr. Cpl. Victor Lozada died.
Lozada was working the motorcade for Sen. Hillary Clinton during her trip to Dallas Friday when his motorcycle hit a curb along the Houston St. viaduct, lost control and crashed.
Sources say the city's computerized dispatch system did not have the Houston Street viaduct as a valid address in its database. The first ambulance dispatched to the crash scene was not from the closest fire station, sources add.
Fellow Dallas police officers who responded say in those crucial moments, they repeatedly asked, "Where's the ambulance?"
According to sources, it took paramedics 11 minutes to reach Lozada. Department protocol states a Priority 1 call is supposed to be answered within 8 minutes.
Police were able to flag down another ambulance that was in the area and said Lozada died seconds after impact.
The city's 9-1-1 computer system, called Computer Aided Dispatch -- or CAD -- has been criticized since it went online last year for several problems that resulted in delays and misdirected calls.
CBS 11 News spoke with several of Lozada's colleagues, but none wanted to go on camera. They did say, however, that the time they spent waiting for an ambulance was excruciating. One officer said he felt helpless he couldn't do anything for his friend.
Another officer said a 9-1-1 dispatcher told him, "We're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way," referring to the methods used before the new system was installed.
Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm said an internal review is "standard operating procedure anytime an officer dies in the line of duty" and that it "always includes a complete review of all aspects of the incident."
Suhm also said there will be a meeting Monday on the new computer dispatch system. It is a regularly scheduled meeting, but it will no doubt take on a different tone after Friday's tragedy.
A candlelight vigil will be held on Monday, February 25, at 7:00 p.m. at the Central Patrol Division, 334 South Hall Street in Dallas.
A public viewing will be held Thursday evening at Restland Funeral Home, located at 13005 Greenville Avenue in Dallas. Lozada's funeral will be held Friday at Plano's Prestonwood Baptist Church, 6801 West Park. The service will begin at 11 a.m.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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