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Sarasota News Leader September 20, 2013 Page 98 Siesta Seen When I phoned Johnson in late August to ask whether she had heard about a new county pocket park there, she was skeptical. "It sounds like it's the 'Coconut Telegraph' [spreading the news]," she added. go ahead and call 911. All calls go to the same room of about 30 to 40 dispatchers, he stressed. A dispatcher might find herself responding to a non-emergency call right after she has handled a 911 call, Osborne said. Preisser confirmed the public space's transformation with George Tatge, a Parks and Recreation Department manager. SKA Vice President Michael Shay had communicated with Tatge about the changes on the site after Shay noticed them in late spring. In June, Shay emailed Tatge, suggesting the installation of one of the department's iconic kiosks to make it clear the right of way is public property. In response to questions about why dispatchers ask so many specific questions — including a caller's location — Osborne explained that the Legislature passed a bill after a tragic case in 2008 involving the abduction of a North Port woman. She was able to make a 911 call, he said, but it was routed to Charlotte County. Officers were not able to locate her in time, he added; she was sexually assaulted and murdered. The Denise Amber Lee Bill, which went into effect on Oct. 1, 2012, deals with specific training procedures for 911 dispatchers to try to prevent such tragedies in the future. One factor behind that request, Shay told me, was that he had observed a couple of apparently homeless people camping on the site. Because such overnight stays are not permitted in county parks, deputies with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office have been able "Sometimes [dispatchers are] going to ask to keep people off the property between mid- questions that are going to aggravate you," Osborne told SKA members. While he acknowlnight and 6 a.m., Shay said. edged that callers already might be under a lot of stress, the dispatchers are only trying to A PRIMER ON CALLS FOR follow the new state law and make sure they LAW ENFORCEMENT AID have all the information they need to handle During the Sept. 5 Siesta Key Association the call appropriately. meeting, Sgt. Scott Osborne — leader of the Sheriff's Office's Community Policing Station SKA Director Ron Flynn pointed out that he on the island — offered some advice and dis- and a neighbor both were upset earlier in the pelled some myths regarding calls for officer summer when they called with complaints about loud music emanating late at night assistance. from the county's Turtle Beach Campground First, Osborne pointed out, if anyone in any on the south end of the key. The dispatchsituation is perplexed about whether to call er asked him to meet a deputy at the camp911 or the non-emergency number for the ground, Flynn continued, "and at 11 o'clock Sheriff's Office (316-1201), the person should at night, I was in bed."