Atlanta fires 911 chief

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Miles Butler, the embattled director of Atlanta’s 911 Center, was fired Wednesday.

In a tersely worded press release, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington announced the firing but did not offer a reason for it. He declined to comment further.

“[Butler]’s always been a problem as far as I’m concerned,” said Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin. “The job was bigger than he was able to handle.”

Butler did not respond to calls seeking comment.

His 19-month tenure was marked by lengthy delays in dealing with emergency calls.

In January, a house fire in Grant Park burned for more than 20 minutes after neighbors began calling 911 and before firefighters arrived. Wilford Reed was trying to douse the blaze with a garden hose, but his home of 40 years — located less than a mile from the nearest fire station — was gutted.

“Miles Butler was fired? Good,” said Reed when reached Wednesday. He said the 911 director never apologized to him for the city’s tardy response to his fire.

Butler initially blamed callers to the 911 Center, saying they reported the wrong address. He later clarified his response when audiotapes proved otherwise.

He said retraining was necessary for the operator in question, acknowledging to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “For us, this has been a learning experience.”

“[Butler] admitted they were negligent,” said attorney Terry Jackson, who represents Wilford Reed. “He admitted they were negligent in the training, hiring and supervising of people in the 911 Center. They were understaffed and overworked, and that’s coming from the director.”

Reed petitioned the city in June to compensate him for the loss of his house and furnishings. The city told his attorney it is considering the request.

In May, a fire that interrupted a children’s birthday party in West End burned for nearly 17 minutes before firefighters were dispatched. City officials blamed the delay on a heavy call volume and staff shortages at the 911 Center.

Butler said in May that Atlanta answered 88,075 calls to 911 the previous month in 12 seconds, on average, but at the time would not provide documentation verifying his statement.

Martin said complaints about the 911 Center continued through the summer.

“We get them all the time,” he said.

A 2008 city audit, assessing the reliability of data in the computer-aided dispatch database, found that the center’s problems predated Butler’s tenure.

“We were unable to conclude whether the data is reliable because the contractor responsible for maintaining the system did not provide system documentation or consistent answers,” according to a letter prepared by city auditors. “We also identified problems with missing fields, the logic used to create reports for the department, and the department’s reliance on the contractor for system information.”

Butler was paid an annual salary of $86,921. He’s being replaced on an interim basis by Brenda Ross, a 27-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department and a commander in the city’s 911 Center.