2012.02.07 - 911 Tapes Released

[jmarple]

Some of the local radio stations have played the 911 tapes again this morning. Everytime I hear that operator, it makes my blood boil (and sick, too, knowing the outcome).

[Isabelle]

Originally Posted by wenwe4

Here is another link to the same info on the reprimand for the 911 operator stating he broke 4 LE policies

http://www.krem.com/news/northwest-n...148087715.html

He should have been terminated!

[diphi]

Originally Posted by jmarple

Some of the local radio stations have played the 911 tapes again this morning. Everytime I hear that operator, it makes my blood boil (and sick, too, knowing the outcome).

It is excruciating to listen to the first call, for sure.

But I'll say this, even good employees can mess up - it happens. Apparently, he acknowledged his errors right from the get-go and knew how he was going to change. Honestly, folks, how do you manage with a long-term employee? Chop a good employee off at the knees just before retirement?

I don't know what else could have been done to him to make the point. But, I can't agree that he should have been terminated...

His main problem seemed to be that he didn't know who JP was. That part I do find hard to fathom. Was he living in some hobbit hole?

IMO

[CarolinaMoon]

I agree that the dispatcher needed the reprimand. He made mistakes and lives were lost.

In re-listening to the call, I still hold to the belief that the woman who was supervising the visit could have helped the situation if she had training in how to make a 911 call. Rule #1: get out the nature of the emergency immediately. If she had initially summarized the situation by saying that she is at xyz address and there are two children in danger, the automatic response would have been to dispatch a patrol car. After the police are on the way is the time to go into all the details she imparted first. It may have taken 1 minute to locate the address in her car, but it would have been less time than going into the long-winded explanation before the dispatcher understood the gravity of the situation.

I'm sure both people involved must feel such pain for what happened. We feel it and we are at a distance. Imagine what they must both feel. My heart goes out to both of them.

[dovebar]

I agree. Recently, on some other case nationally, 911 operators praised (mayb even awarded?) a small child, saying that their 911 call was everything they wish they could get from adults. It would certainly be interesting to know whether anyone has studied this.

Just as children need training to resist "strangers," do adults need training to resist the charms of psychopaths like Josh, so that when something goes wrong, we don't spend too many minutes processing all the "weirdness" of that? Do we need training to get to the heart of the matter more quickly, because as adults, we are aware of complexities that kids aren't?

I'm also thinking about the 3-year-old carjacked kid who came to a woman's door and said, "Help me. I'm cold." I wonder if an adult in trouble puts it that concisely, automatically.