Dispatchers to get training after firing over Gary 911 call

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) – Emergency dispatchers in northwest Indiana’s Lake County are getting more training after a man who called 911 was found dead in a Gary church hours later.

Human resources consultant Tom Dabertin says training will begin this week for dispatchers in Gary who work for Lake County’s E-911 department. He told the Lake County Public Safety Communications Commission on Thursday that plans call for all department dispatchers to get customer service training.

The (Munster) Times reports the training comes after one dispatcher was fired and another was suspended following the death of off-duty transit police officer Burt Sanders of Gary.

Sanders was doing maintenance work at the church when he called 911 around on June 6 to complain of chest pains. He was found dead several hours later by a relative.