TAUNTON - A scathing independent report released Friday blames a "systems failure" for the more than 20-minute delay in responding to the home of two of the stabbing victims during the homicidal rampage in Taunton on May 10.
"[T]he standard of care provided by the City of Taunton's emergency services communications system is sub-standard, does not meet best practices and presents a clear danger to the citizens of Taunton and its public safety personnel," states the report by Ryan Strategies Group, the company hired by the city to review the incident and response.
The report states that a "series of miscommunications" lead to the delay in responding to 270 Myricks St., where a deranged Arthur DaRosa had stabbed 80-year-old Patricia Slavin to death and badly wounded her daughter Kathleen after causing a car accident on the street near their home.
He then drove off, brandishing their kitchen knife, for the Silver City Galleria, where he stabbed Taunton resident George Heath prior to being shot to death by an off-duty sheriff's deputy.
The report says there was "little or no communication" between fire and police during the series of incidents, each department operating in its own communications "silo," and calls for an immediate overhaul of the city's emergency dispatch system - which it calls badly out of date.