911= deaf ears

[dub150]

recently in my neck of the woods, (Madison WI) there has been two accounts of victoms/concerned citizen calling 911 for help, in one instance the 911 dispatch regarded the call as a prank, the victoms body was found a few days later, on the second occurance there were three seperate calls to 911 dispatch about a large mob of people in a park where violence was escalating
THREE CALLS and still no police, the victoms body was found in the park,yet our libby/hippy politicians in the area keep pushing for us to give up our guns and put our fate in the hands of our corrupt system that thus far has done nothing but raise our taxes to pay for police that won't be there
there's another member here thats right"when seconds count, police are only minutes away(hours away in madison)

 

[zoom6zoom]

That's why a 1911 trumps 911 every time.

 

[Eightball]

Can you cite any news articles, or cite anything at all for this?

 

[ridata]

Eightball: I just looked it up, it would appear he is correct in stating there have been numerous 911 errors, some resulting in death. I can't find anything about a call being treated as a prank, and there were only two calls about the noise complaint, not three.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/arch_local/313391

It would also appear the system is getting worked on, the sheriff is asking for one dispatcher's resignation.

 

[Yo Mama]

When seconds count, help is minutes away.

 

[expvideo]

It is not the responsibility of law enforcement agencies to protect you. That is your responsibility. If you don't care about protecting yourself, it's hard to feel sorry for you.

 

[Phil DeGraves]

It is not the responsibility of law enforcement agencies to protect you. That is your responsibility.

That's true, but as the OP said...

yet our libby/hippy politicians in the area keep pushing for us to give up our guns

Wisconsin is NOT the gun friendliest of states.
That does raise a dilemma...

 

[RKBABob]

Remember what we had before 911? You didn't hear people saying "You don't need a gun, you can just call (321) 867-5309!"


911 wil not, and can not be what liberal/blissninny/idealists imagine it to be... its just another phone number, not a direct line to God!


You call 911.... ring... ring... ring

Operator: "Podunk, Backwater, and Boonie Counties Regional Emergency Dispatch 911 Center. What is the nature of your mergency?"

Caller: "Some guy's trying to kill me with a knife!"

Operator: "Do you need police assistance?"

Caller: "YES!"

Operator: "Where are you located, sir?"

Caller: I'm slouched behind the dumpster in the municipal parking garage..."

Operator: "What city are you in?"

Caller: "Shadytown"

Operator: That's in Podunk County, then?"

Caller: "I don't know.. I guess."

Operator: "Please stay on the line while I transfer your call to Podunk County police dispach, sir."

After about 10 minutes of this, the police are dispatched... assuming that the call went to the right place, and they took down your location correctly, help will be there in just another 5 - 10 minutes.


Wait, you didn't tell 911 your attacker was armed, did you? Oops, now the first officer might wait a block away for backup before approaching the scene. Wait 15 minutes.

Hey, you know, there is the parade on Broad Street today, that could elay things. Hmmm... an old lady called a few minutes before me to report that the highschoolers are smoking marijuana behind the gym over on Elm Street.... There's a mean dog on Market Street, near the shops... and a domestic disturbance on the South Side.

You know, now that you've had a half hour to think about it..... don't you think you should have made preparations to be responsible for your own safety, rather than calling a phone number?


Or maybe you should have called a cab to take you out of that bad situation... cab companies have a phone number, operators, and radio dispatch just like the police... but it seems silly to trust your live to the cab company, doesn't it?

 

[alsaqr]

It would also appear the system is getting worked on, the sheriff is asking for one dispatcher's resignation.

A good sheriff would have run the dispatcher off the job.

 

[ridata]

A good sheriff would have run the dispatcher off the job.

I agree with you to an extent. It would appear there is a a shortage of manpower in the dispatcher's office. And it appears many of them are incompetant. So I agree they need to shape up or be fired, but they need to get more people in there working ASAP. So about the only thing the sheriff really can do is run the dispatcher off the job and go do it himself until they can get a replacement in there. And then he isn't doing his job.

 

[KBintheSLC]

I would never use 911 unless I was out of town and I didn't know the number for the police dept... its far better to just call the local police dispatch number in the event of a crime. Its never busy, and it takes you directly to the people that matter.

 

[xanderzuk]

When I lived in Dallas, our motto was to always call the Fire Department if you needed help (seriously). Those guys would be there in no time, and would take pleasure in beating someone's ass.

The police on the other hand didn't even know which street was where in our neighborhoods. Actual quote after telling one where I lived (one of the most significant streets in the area "I don't know where that is, I don't live over here, I just work this area."

Wha??

 

[dub150]

the first case i mentioned was a girl by the name of brittany zimmerman, the call got disconnnected and the dispatcher treated it as a prank with no follow up, as far as gun control in wisconsin (madison in particular) thats what you get when you elect a 70's radical anti war lets smoke dope not crimanals (paul soglin) thank god thompson overturned soglins ban on handguns in city limits, but we still can't buy handguns in the city

 

[expvideo]

Here's an actual 911 call I had, and a lot of the reason I don't call 911 anymore.

911: 911 what are you reporting?
Me: I was just assaulted, I need the King County Sheriff's Department please
911: Just a moment
...
911: 911 what are you reporting?
Me: I was just assaulted at the shell station in North Bend, WA. Some drunk I don't know just started trying to pick a fight with me for no reason while I was in my car and broke out my window. He's leaving right now and I want to press charges.
911: What is the address?
Me: I don't know, it's the shell station on North Bend Way.
911: Sir, I need the address.
Me: I don't have it, but it's there are only 2 Shell stations in town, only one of them is on North Bend Way.
911: Sir, without an address I can't dispatch officers.
Me: It's a really small town, they'll know exactly where you are talking about.
911: But I have to have an address sir. Can you get the address?
Me: No, can you just pass this on and let them figure it out?
911: Sir, if you can't give me an address I can't dispatch officers.
Me: Forget it. I see an officer and I'm going to flag him down. Thanks a lot.




Yeah. A little disappointed with 911. I'll be handling my own problems from now on.

 

[qajaq59]

It is not the responsibility of law enforcement agencies to protect you.

That's certainly true. And of course that's why guys with tons of money have private guards protecting them. But that's different. Right?

 

[expvideo]

That's certainly true. And of course that's why guys with tons of money have private guards protecting them. But that's different. Right?

right

 

[Matt-J2]

Remember what we had before 911? You didn't hear people saying "You don't need a gun, you can just call (321) 867-5309!"

I'm fairly certain you didn't call that particular number so much as sang it a time or 2.




Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[Deleted member 66305]

Expvideo, I have made changes to the conversation with 911 below (in bold) that would have guaranteed an immediate police response, with or without address:

Here's an actual 911 call I had, and a lot of the reason I don't call 911 anymore.

911: 911 what are you reporting?
Me: I was just assaulted, I need the King County Sheriff's Department please
911: Just a moment
...
911: 911 what are you reporting?
Me: I was just assaulted at the shell station in North Bend, WA. Some drunk I don't know just started trying to pick a fight with me for no reason while I was in my car and broke out my window. He's leaving right now and I want to press charges.
911: What is the address?
Me: I don't know, it's the shell station on North Bend Way.
911: Sir, I need the address.
Me: I don't have it, but it's there are only 2 Shell stations in town, only one of them is on North Bend Way.
911: Sir, without an address I can't dispatch officers.
Me: It's a really small town, they'll know exactly where you are talking about.
911: But I have to have an address sir. Can you get the address?
Me: No, can you just pass this on and let them figure it out?
911: Sir, if you can't give me an address I can't dispatch officers.
Me: Forget it. Tell the officers to follow the sound of gunfire -- I'm going to shoot the bastard instead. *click*

 

[rondog]

Don't 911 centers draw their employees from the same applicant pool as the TSA airport "security" folks?

 

[ZombieHunter]

that's EXACTLY what i wrote the baltimore sun about. 911 means well but with crap like that it's hard to have faith in them.

 

[Dirty Dawg]

"So get up, get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown"

Had to do it.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Me: Forget it. Tell the officers to follow the sound of gunfire -- I'm going to shoot the bastard instead. *click*

That is just stupid.

 

[pbearperry]

911 in theory is a great idea,esp if when dialed the caller and location comes up on the screen.In reallity,its horrible for many reasons.The system is only as good as the local IQ.My old Dept(retired now)has it and after 12-15 years in place,they still get thousands of false calls a year.It was so bad we were getting 600-1000 false calls a month.How does that happen?1.People put 911 on the speed dial and the kiddies playing with the phone hit it all the time.2.People at work that want to make a long distance call have to dial 9 first,then 1 and in their haste hit 1 again because they are in a hurry,thus 911 gets initiated.3.Then you get the idiots that just want to try it to make sure it works.Every one of these calls must be checked out by sending a squad car just in case.Oh I forgot,then you get the thousands of 911 calls to see if school has been cancelled because its snowing outside.Once again,I don't know if this is happening everywhere but I am sure my City isn't the only one.

 

[ants]

No one lists the 10 million calls that went right

So, when a girl ran a red light and destroyed my car, sending it into a brick wall, the 911 operator handled it beautifully. My back was hurt, my head was cut, I could barely hear because of the ringing in my ears, I was dizzy and couldn't get my bearings, but the 911 operator asked key questions to determine the intersection location. Then I hung up the phone without giving her my name or phone number. 30 seconds later she called back and clarified the street name. 2 cops and an ambulance were there in 3 minutes. They strapped on a backboard, secured my carry pistol, and took me to the trauma center.

When I told the 911 operator "Thank you" it felt that I wasn't saying enough.

So was I the lucky one, or was I one of the 10 million properly served by the 911 system? No, I think the unfortunate incidents are the unlucky few.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

very true
when i had two cars with fools trying to run me off the road the lady was very good. got the info on them and cops on the way quick. and when i mentioned that if they tried to stop me we were gonna see what happens when 7500 pounds of utility body ford meets honda she said "you gotta protect yourself be careful" i get 20 min non emergency responses when i tell em come by anytime i'll be home all day.