TACOMA, Washington (ABC 4 News) - An 18-year veteran dispatcher who took the first call the day Josh Powell blew up his Washington State home has been reprimanded for his lack of action that day.
Police say
Powell killed himself and his two sons in the fire.
David Lovrak took
the first 911 call from the social worker assigned to the Powell children that fatal day last February. He is not new to his line of work. He's an award-winning dispatcher who has been answering calls since 1994.
18 years of experience failed him February 5th.
According to a Letter of Written Reprimand given by his supervisors at Law Enforcement Support Agency, Lovrak was "slow," "confused," and "disregarded the severity of the call" he took from Charlie and Braden's social worker.
In the first 911 call the social worker told the Lovrak "I don't know what the address is." Lovrak answered, "Well that's pretty important to me."
According to the letter, the first problem comes in that exchange, and stated that Lovrak took too long to get an address, despite having the ability to use an automatic tracking system.
The next problem: A lack of concern over the
worker's concern for a smell of gas.
Lovrak
waited seven minutes to dispatch deputies to the house. They didn't get there until twenty two minutes after the social worker made the initial 911 call.
Lovrak has openly admitted and later stated that he "wished he had known who Josh Powell was." Lovrak claimed he had no idea what he was dealing with when the call was made.
What will the reprimand do? Really nothing for the dispatcher. It will be in his personal folder forever, but the supervisor who conducted the review wrote that the "
public scrutiny and his admittance of error" was enough.
