Cincinnati Police Department

Eliot K. Isaac
Police Chief
Kyle Plush Investigation
May 14, 2018
 This presentation includes the sequence of events
which was compiled using 911 calls, surveillance
footage from Seven Hills School, and the officers’ body
worn camera videos.

All times of day for surveillance video “events” were

estimated from the officers’ time of arrival at Seven
Hills School.
Mr. Kyle Plush walks across parking lot to his van and enters the
vehicle through sliding driver’s side rear door.
Estimated time: 3:05 PM
 Two persons walk to a red sedan parked two spots south of Mr. Plush’s
vehicle. They stand at the rear of the vehicle for approximately 20 seconds
before entering the vehicle.
Estimated time: 3:12 PM.
The red sedan backs out of the parking space and travels southbound
through the parking lot. Estimated time: 3:14 PM.

Mr. Plush makes the first 911 cellular telephone call to ECS at 3:14PM.
 At approximately 3:14 PM, E911 Operator Magee
answered a 911 call, now known to have been
made by Mr. Kyle Plush.

 The sound quality was muffled and Mr. Plush

seemed some distance from the telephone. Magee
heard Mr. Plush state “Seven Hills, “ but did not
know what he meant.

 Magee attempted to communicate with Mr. Plush,

but he did not respond to any questions. The call
lasted approximately two minutes, fifty-six
seconds, and was disconnected by Mr. Plush at
approximately 3:17 PM.
A person walks past Mr. Plush’s van.
Estimated time: 3:16 PM.
 E911 Operator Magee then had two other E911 Operators
(Harris and Dooley) listen to the call while Magee attempted
to determine Mr. Plush’s location.

 Harris heard Mr. Plush, whom she believed to be an elderly

female, state “Help me I’m going to die. I’m in a van at
Seven Hills (inaudible) shop.”

 Magee attempted a call back, but the call was answered by

voicemail. Magee issued a Phase II to determine a better
location.

 When the address returned to Seven Hills School on Red

Bank Road, Harris was familiar with the Thrift Store at
Seven Hills School.
 E911 Operator Harris instructed E911 Operator Magee
to enter the Thrift Store information into the CAD
entry.

 Magee entered an incident into the Computer Aided

Dispatch (CAD) system for an unknown trouble to
5471 Red Bank Road.

 At approximately 3:18 PM, Magee made a return call to

Mr. Plush’s telephone. The call was answered by
voicemail, with the message “Hello this is Kyle….” Per
ECS standard operating procedure, Magee
disconnected the call.
 The driver of a gray sport utility vehicle parked in the parking
space immediately south of Mr. Plush’s van returns to his vehicle.
Estimated time: 3:19 PM.
A second person arrives at the gray sport utility vehicle.
Estimated time: 3:19 PM.
The gray sport utility vehicle backs out of the parking space and
travels southbound through the parking lot.
Estimated time: 3:21 PM.
Two persons walk past Mr. Plush’s van and enter a dark color
sedan parked on the east side of the parking lot.
Estimated time: 3:21 PM.
 Officers Brian Brazile and Edsel Osborn, Unit
2232, were dispatched to 5471 Red Bank Road
at 3:23 PM.
 The dispatcher advised officers the call taker
heard a female stating, “Help me, I’m stuck
inside my van. I’m in Seven Hills parking lot.”
The location was from Phase II. The
complainant kept stating she was unable to
hear the call taker and hung up. Voicemail on
callback. Possibly in the thrift store parking lot
across from the school.
The dark color sedan backs out of the parking space and travels
southbound through the parking lot.
Estimated time: 3:23 PM
District Two unit #2232 drives south on Red Bank Road, arriving at
3:26 pm. At least 25 vehicles remain in the upper lot.
Estimated time: 3:26 PM.
Two persons walk past Mr. Plush’s van and enter a
black SUV parked three spaces to the north.
Estimated time: 3:32 PM.
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Allen walks into the intersection
and directs traffic.
Estimated time: 3:32 PM
 At 3:34 PM, E911 Operator Smith answered a
911 call and heard what she believed to be a
woman say “Siri, Siri…” Smith attempted to
engage the caller, now known to be Mr. Plush,
in conversation but there was no response.
 Smith treated the call as a “silent call.”
 Smith then muted her headset microphone and
activated the TeleTypewriter (TTY) function
through the telephone system.
 The TTY function sends a signal used for hearing
impaired individuals and sounds similar to a fax
machine.
 Smith stated she did not hear any communication
for the entirety of the call.
 Smith attempted to initiate a Phase II to identify
the caller’s location.
 The CAD system at Smith’s workstation was
periodically frozen. The map of the location did
not appear on the CAD screen.
 Smith stated she experienced CAD connection
difficulties throughout the call.
 E911 Operator Smith looked up the caller’s
number through the call screen, which
indicated that this telephone number was
attached to an earlier CAD incident.
 Smith briefly regained CAD connection,
located the prior incident, and observed that
the incident was closed. Once an incident is
closed, the call taker is unable to add any
comments to that incident.
 E911 Operator Smith disconnected the call and
immediately called the number back. The call
was answered by voicemail, and Smith
disconnected the call.
 Since the earlier CAD incident was closed,
Smith attempted to enter the information into a
new CAD incident as an “advised” incident,
but the system froze again. Smith clicked on
the “exit/save” button, and assumed the
information she entered was eventually
accepted by the CAD system.
 Smith continued to take 911 calls, and
continued to experience CAD connection
problems. Smith’s CAD connection shut down
and she began completing Manual Dispatch
Cards.
 Smith observed that other workstations
experienced CAD connection problems.
The black SUV parked three spaces north of Mr. Plush’s van backs out of
the parking space and travels southbound through the parking lot.
Estimated time: 3:36 PM.
Deputy Allen walks south on Red Bank Road out of camera view.
Estimated time: 3:37 PM.
District Two unit #2232 is observed driving through upper parking
lot, to the south of Mr. Plush’s van.
Estimated time: 3:38 PM.
District Two unit #2232 continues to be observed driving through
upper parking lot, to the south of Mr. Plush’s van.
Estimated time: 3:38 PM.
 At approximately 3:44 PM, E911 Operator Magee
answered a non-emergency call from Deputy
Allen.
 Deputy Allen called to determine if any additional
information was available regarding the
“unknown trouble” incident. Magee informed
Allen that nothing was found by officers assigned
to the incident.
 Deputy Allen told E911 Operator Magee that he
had checked the area and found nothing; he
informed E911 Operator Magee that he would
continue checking.
 Arrived within approximately three minutes of dispatch
 Activated BWC
 Limited Information
 Believed they were looking for a female locked in her vehicle
 Stayed in Police Utility Vehicle
 Cover more ground
 Higher vantage point
 Each officer looking out their side
 Relayed information to HamCo Deputy
 Video and CAD confirm on scene for at least 14 minutes
 Deactivated BWC after approximately three minutes
 Attempted to call Mr. Plush back from Officer’s personal
cell phone
District Two unit #2232 pulls into the upper parking lot next to the
Thrift Store.
District Two unit #2232 drives through the upper parking lot.
District Two unit #2232 meets with Deputy Allen.
District Two unit #2232 pulls away and Deputy Allen continues to
walk the parking lot.
District Two unit #2232 vehicle pulls onto southbound Red Bank
Road.
Deputy Allen looks into a white van parked in on the west side of the
parking lot.
 Beginning at approximately 8:56 pm, Emergency
Communications Section answered six 911 calls to send
police and fire units to Seven Hills School at 5400 Red
Bank Road. A missing student was found inside a van,
and was unresponsive.
 At approximately 9:00 pm, Operator Dispatcher Carina
Sylvester dispatched District Two units to Seven Hills
School at 5400 Red Bank Road. District Two unit #2225
arrived at 9:07 pm. Mr. Kyle Plush, a 16-year old
student at Seven Hills School, was found deceased
inside a gold Honda Odyssey that was parked in a
parking lot to the north of the thrift store.
 Investigators from the Criminal Investigation Section
Homicide Unit responded and assumed control of the
scene.
 Mr. Plush’s initial statements were overridden
by the standard, automated call taker greeting.
 As a result, the call taker was unable to hear critical
information Mr. Plush was attempting to provide.
 Hard to understand
 It is now known Mr. Plush’s phone was in his
pant’s pocket.
 The call taker was unaware Mr. Plush was
using Siri technology.
 Due to the phone’s location Mr. Plush was
unable to respond to direct questions from the
call taker.
 The call was disconnected by Mr. Plush.
 Operator Magee initiated a call back; however,
the call went to voicemail.
 Two other employees listened to glean as much
info as possible.
 Phase II was initiated to ascertain the phone’s
location
 Officers were given the following information:
 Respond for unknown trouble. The call taker heard a
female stating, “Help me, I’m stuck inside my van. I’m
in Seven Hills parking lot.” The location was from
Phase II. The complainant kept stating she was unable
to hear the call taker and hung up. Voicemail on
callback. Possibly in the thrift store parking lot across
from the school.
 Officers responded and acted based solely upon
this information, their training, and experience.
 They believed a female was locked in her vehicle
in need of assistance.
 Mr. Plush’s initial statements were overridden
by the standard, automated call taker greeting.
 As a result, the call taker was unable to hear critical
information Mr. Plush was attempting to provide.
 Operator Smith, on the second call, heard, “Siri,
Siri…” and no other communication.
 Smith then asked, “Is anyone there?”
 Hearing no response, Smith initiated
TeleTypewriter (TTY).
 Once TTY is activated, the call taker’s
microphone is muted and the incoming caller’s
volume to the call taker is reduced by 75%.
 This occurs to protect the call taker’s hearing.
 Operator Smith did not hear any conversation
from Mr. Plush throughout the call.
 Operator Smith disconnected the call at 3:37
PM and immediately placed a call back ,
receiving voicemail.
 ECS operations were at the backup
communications site located at 800 Evans St.
 Mr. Jayson Dunn, Chief Technology Officer for
the City of Cincinnati made the following
observations:
 There were no system wide failures with any of
the backend technology at the time of the
incident.
 The 911 phone system did not fail.
 The 800 Mhz Radio System did not fail.
 The CAD system did not fail
 The CAD system experienced intermittent
connectivity problems between workstations at
Spinney and the servers at Radcliff, which likely
caused performance problems.
 Five of the twelve call taker workstations
experienced these CAD connectivity issues.
 E911 Operator Smith’s CAD computer was
running slow and experienced errors
 Smith’s CAD workstation had Windows errors
related to connecting to the CAD server.
 Smith’s phone computer was not running slow
or experiencing errors.
 Working at the backup site (Spinney)
contributed to audio issues due to increased
background noise.
 Working at the backup site contributed to
technical issues due to connectivity problems
between the servers at Radcliff and the CAD
workstations at Spinney.
 Multiple CAD workstations had Windows errors
related to connecting to the CAD servers at Radcliff.
 Smith was instructed to mute the headset
microphone, and did so when she activated the
TTY function.
 Smith was not trained to manually close the
TTY function or that TTY reduces call volume.
 The TTY function did not disengage until the
second 911 call was disconnected.
 When a silent call is received, the call taker
may activate TTY and send tones to the caller
that would be interpreted by a TTY device.
When a TTY is sent, the phone system will
reduce the call volume so that incoming tones
from the caller’s TTY device doesn’t create
excessive noise from the TTY tones in the call
taker’s headset.
 Many human and environmental non-technical factors
can contribute to a call taker’s ability to hear a caller’s
voice that would not be recognized by listening to the
audio replay. For example: the caller’s disposition
while calling, the volume setting of the call taker’s
headset, background noise in the call center, the
volume of the caller’s voice, feedback or low volume
from a caller using speaker phone, etc.
 The call taker muted her microphone and activated a
TTY message to be sent to the caller. While activated,
this eliminated the caller’s ability to hear the call taker,
and reduced the caller’s volume to prevent
interruption of the TTY tones.
 The telephone system received, processed, and
recorded all of the audio from the 911 calls.
However, this does not mean that the call taker
was able to hear the audio clearly.
 Receiving this call while operating from the
backup communications site created additional
background noise for all call takers and may
have caused the network latency errors on the
workstations at Spinney Field with the servers
at Radcliff.
 Volume reduction continues unless the call taker
terminates the TTY without disconnecting the call.
 The current telephone system was installed in
January 2018. Call takers received four hours of
training on the new phone system from a
representative of the vendor.
 The investigation determined that E911 Operator Magee’s actions
followed ECS policies and standard operating procedures and
were consistent with ECS training.
 The investigation determined that by deactivating their body
worn cameras while on scene, Officers Brazile and Osborn
violated department procedure. However, the investigation also
determined that with the information known to the officers at the
time of the incident, their response to the unknown trouble
incident met department standards and their actions were
consistent with those of a reasonable officer.
 The investigation determined that E911 Operator Smith’s actions
followed ECS policies and standard operating procedures and
were consistent with the training that she had received.
Cincinnati Police Department

Eliot K. Isaac
Police Chief
Kyle Plush Investigation
May 14, 2018