City hires 2 firms to investigate police, 911 center response to boy trapped in van

CINCINNATI -- (WXIX) -- Cincinnati city leaders have hired two firms to conduct independent investigations into the police and 911 center response to Kyle Plush.

Money also is being allocated right now to purchased a mapping system for cruisers, the city's acting city manager announced Monday in the latest public hearing as officials push for reforms in light of the 16-year-old' death.

The mapping system could have pinpointed Kyle's location for Cincinnati police officers as they responded to Seven Hills School in Madisonville when he twice called 911 pleading for help April 10, when he became trapped under the third-row, rear seat of his van.

The Cincinnati Fire Department has had the mapping system since December 2016.

City officials selected Mission Critical Partners to lead an independent investigation into the 911 center's response to Kyle's calls and their response to all calls in general. They will start their investigation June 26.

Another company, 21CP, will review the police response the day Kyle died, They said they were starting their investigation immediately following the hearing.

City Council did not discuss this morning what that probes would cost, but Smitherman estimated the results would not be out until the fall, likely October.

Council is expected to meet to talk about the budget Monday afternoon.

Ron Plush found his son dead inside the family's gold Honda Odyssey van in the school parking lot more than 5 1/2 hours after Kyle called 911 for help. He yelled out "Hey, Siri" because his phone was in his pocket at the time he became trapped.

The Hamilton County Coroner has ruled Kyle's death as asphyxia due to chest compression.

In his first 911 call, Kyle said "help" several times and said he was trapped in his van outside the school. He also said: "I'm gonna die here."

The dispatcher had Kyle's location through GPS coordinates from his cell phone and saw a map showing the parking lot his van was in. That map could have directed police officers to within five to 10 feet of where Kyle's body was eventually found.

Instead, the two officers who responded for a report of "unknown trouble" searched several parking lots and did not get out of their cars or ask the 911 center for more information about Kyle's location, officials have revealed. The officers also never saw the map the dispatchers had.

Kyle's warning that he was going to die was not given to officers, police officials have said. They thought they were looking for an elderly woman locked in her vehicle.

In his second call, Kyle gave a detailed description of the van and his location.

"I probably don't have much time left to tell my mom that I love her if I die. This is not a joke. This is not a joke. I'm trapped inside my gold Honda Odyssey van in the sophomore Parking lot of Seven Hills … Send officers immediately. I'm almost dead. Seven Hills… Seven Hills."

But the 911 operator who took that call said she couldn't hear him, a city record shows. Her computer system also froze.

That's because, Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney said Monday, her computer crashed due to a Windows failure. Other dispatchers took 911 calls without issue during that time.