Emergency Communications Accountability & Justice Panel

A community inquiry and reporting project that documents and publishes failures in emergency communications—especially refusals to document crimes in progress, dismissive call handling, and after-the-fact blame-shifting that harms public safety.

People are invited to submit complaints (their specific incident details) and tips (information and patterns they’ve observed). Our team reviews submissions, verifies facts when possible, and publishes findings and recommendations for change.

What we review

We focus on problems in emergency call handling and communication documentation, including allegations such as:

refused or inadequate documentation of a crime in progress
dismissive or blaming statements during call handling
delays, misrouting, or failures that impact safety
after-the-fact “you should have called differently” responses
patterns of repeated failures and systemic issues

We may also pursue related reporting that helps explain how these failures affect victims and investigations.

How submissions work (complaints + tips)

Complaints (for review and potential publication)

Share what happened, including:

date and time (as accurately as you can)
location
who you spoke with (if known)
what was said (include exact phrases if possible)
what documentation or evidence exists (call logs, incident numbers, recordings, screenshots, emails/texts, or photos you’re able to share)

Tips (for investigative reporting)

Share patterns you’ve observed, names of offices/units involved, and any proof you can provide or explain. We may follow up for additional information.

Anonymous submissions

You can submit anonymously. If we can’t verify key details or follow up, it may limit what we can publish.

What happens after you submit

Receipt & triage: we review your submission for completeness and scope
Verification: we check supporting details using available records and reporting methods
Publication decisions: if we can verify key facts, we may publish a story or redacted findings
Redaction & privacy: we remove identifying details when needed to protect privacy and reduce harm

We may publish redacted summaries even when we cannot identify individuals.

Independence

This community inquiry and reporting is operated independently by Rochester Sun Times News (our newsroom). We are not a government agency and we are not acting under any city, county, or state contract or appointment. Any review, verification, and investigation we conduct are part of our own investigative work and remain our private files and research unless otherwise stated.

Anonymous submissions (again, for clarity)

You may submit information anonymously. We may not be able to verify or follow up on anonymous submissions without additional details. Whether you are anonymous or not, you understand that we may use verified details in articles or redacted summaries.

No legal advice

Nothing on this site or in any submission process is legal advice. We do not provide legal representation or legal counsel.

Not an official complaint process

Submitting information to us does not create an official complaint process and does not replace contacting emergency services or filing complaints through official channels.

No obligation to return materials

We may use submissions for verification and reporting purposes. We do not promise to return original materials or provide copies of our internal notes, evidence files, drafts, or research.

Emergency Communications Accountability & Justice Panel