911 office sex toy party led to firing

They look like pictures of people having a good time.

The problem is, according to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania officials, the pictures were taken inside the 911 call center during a holiday gift exchange, and some of the gifts handed out were adult toys and alcohol. The December party came to light after pictures were posted on the Internet.

Some of the partygoers posed with gag gifts such as adult toys, liquor and boxes of beer. "I think they're extremely embarrassing. We're mortified," Montgomery County Director of Communications John Corcoran said.

County officials said the photos were taken Dec. 22 during working hours inside the 911 call center. The county is not identifying any of the workers but one man, Shaun P. Brown, a shift supervisor, has been fired.

"They were not drinking. They were all very consistent on that, that there was no alcohol consumed in the emergency operations center that night or on any other night," Corcoran said.

Of the more than 700 calls that came into the 911 center, less than half were emergencies. Officials said they are going over every call, but at this point they don't believe any call was mishandled.

Sixteen workers were on duty on the overnight shift of Dec. 22. According to county officials, six are shown in the photos that ended up online. "The depictions could lead someone to conclude that alcohol was being consumed, and that undermines public confidence in the public safety system. That's extremely serious, and we take it very seriously, and we immediately had to establish that that didn't actually occur" Corcoran said.

County officials said no crime was committed, but the workers did violate county policy that states no alcohol, even sealed bottles, is to be on county property. They said the taking of the pictures and then posting them on the Internet did not help matters.

In addition to the firing of one supervisor, county officials said those in the photos can expect disciplinary action. They are investigating who brought the alcohol to the party. (info & photo from NBC10.com)