Your words matter when talking to 9-1-1, choose wisely

[TexasRifleman]

I live in a suburb of Ft Worth, TX and sometimes when I can't sleep I'll turn on my scanner and listen to the local happenings. I fell asleep with the earbuds in and about 5 this morning the "alert" signal went off, waking me up.

The dispatcher is telling the officer "I'm on the phone with a woman, her husband is holding a hostage in their house". Hmm, odd.

Officer heads that way but I can tell from his voice he isn't happy with the info so he asks for clarification.

"Yes, the wife says someone broke into their house and is a hostage".

Huh? The officer is still not happy, and I'm sorta confused as I listen.

Officer: "One more time, who has the gun"
Dispatch: "The Husband"
Officer "Who is being held at gunpoint"
Dispatch "A guy that broke in"
Officer "So who is the hostage?"
Dispatch "The wife says her husband is holding him hostage"
Officer "I'm sorry, that doesnt work, I need to know what's going on here, ask her if her husband is the good guy or the bad guy from her viewpoint"
Dispatch "She says her husband has the gun and he is the good guy, he is pointing the gun at the guy that broke in"
Officer "Tell her I am at the door, tell her to come open the door, and and tell her that's not what the f&$&ing word hostage means!!!"

He was pissed, never heard an officer curse on the radio before but I understand. From what I heard, it appeared that the husband was the bad guy right up until the officer was at the door. This officer was preparing himself to shoot the guy with the gun, since hostages are always good guys.

Could have ended much much worse.

Choose your words carefully, and buy your wife a dictionary.



Hostage: someone who is seized by a criminal abductor in order to compel another party such as a relative, employer or government to act, or refrain from acting, in a particular way,

Posted in S&T because although this is kinda funny story, it has real world application and something to think about.

 

[Headless]

LOL jesus, that is insane. I'm sure some of the LEO's on the forum have heard some similar accounts; perhaps they can chime in with common things people tend to mess up on relating when they are terrified/shocked/furious etc.

 

[cpileri]

phone tag

I have been thinking every now and then to attach a tag to the phone, or near it perhaps, with exactly what to say to 911 if we ever had to call. I think the first thing I would say is my address, that way if we get cut off at least the operator knows where to send help. The calls are taped, so they can play back your message.
I figure my name is not all that important, so i would save it to last if i had time to get the message out.
Then, and here's where I might need some input from RKI's, I would have to prioritize the info. I would say that the following are immportant, but I cannot decide the order:
(not all of these apply to every situation, and some are added for completeness, not because they could apply to me)

- Intruder in home
- Intruder is armed
- Homeowner is home
- homeowner is armed
- homeowner in civillian clothes
- (child or) children present
- small (child or) children present
- Multiple intruders
- homeowner/residents injured
- intruder is injured
- shots fired
- ???

In other words, I am trying to convey the most important info to get the CORRECT response in the event we are cut-off before i get the whole message out.

Any suggestions?

Please keep this serious. No need to be funny and post things you might find on gunsnet like 'Intruder bleeding out on the rug. Send carpet cleaner. Oh, and an ambulance. Homeowner sitting on corpse, smoking a cigarette..."

Thanks!
C-

 

[sacp81170a]

One piece of information that would be very useful is your location in the home and the location of the intruder, if known. Upstairs/downstairs, bedroom/kitchen, general information that would give responding LEO's an idea of where everyone is. If I knew you were in the upstairs bedroom and you believe the intruder to be in the garage that would impact my choice of where to enter the house.

 

[Mainsail]

Do you think it would help if the 911 operator asked the caller which person was the antagonist and which was the protagonist?

 

[Kentak]

There's a lot of dumbness to go around. The homeowner should have said he is "holding" or "detaining" the "intruder" at gunpoint.

The dumbass 911 operator should not have used the word hostage without getting further clarification him/herself.

Yes, meanings of words DO matter.

 

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

Yeah, but did the gun he was using take a "clip" or a "magazine"?

 

[TexasRifleman]

Yeah, but did the gun he was using take a "clip" or a "magazine"?

This is Ft Worth, I am sure it was a Colt Single Action

 

[ZeSpectre]

I'm reminded of the ending of every episode of "Cops"

(police radio sound) Unit XXX, I've got him at gunpoint
(Dispatch) Roger unit XXX (location) suspect held at gunpoint

or something to that effect.

It was often "entertaining" arriving at a scene and attempting to discern what the heck was actually going on.

 

[Mtnvalley]

One key bit of info I'd want passed along (and have told my wife to do so should occasion arise)...what *I* look like, and what I'm wearing (if dressed).

If she is calling 911 and it's not a medical or fire problem, I would most likely be armed, and may not have a holster or even a waistband. All I ask is that a LEO hesitate long enough (when I'm not even close to muzzling him) to let me verbalize compliance and set the gun down. In any event, I can't think of any downside to having my description passed along, and I can sure think of lots of scenarios where it would be an upside.

 

[lbmii]

This sounds horrible but if I were a black man in my home holding a white intruder at gun point I would let the 911 folks know that the black guy is the good guy.

I think if there is any reversed sterotype I would speak up about it. Youth good guy verses eldery bad guy, male good guy verses female bad girl, blue collar dressed good guy verses business suit wearing bad guy, anything that is opposite from common norms or perceptions I would point out.

 

[raginrednek]

I Know If You Tell 911 That You Are Armed, Or That You Are Prepared To Shoot, Someone Will Show Up Asap.
The Neighbors Very Nasty Rottie Used To Get Loose And We All Had To Beat It Into The House Repeatedly. Despite Numerous Complaints Previously, When I Said I Would Shoot The Dog Next Time It Came Within 50 Feet Of Any Of Us, The Spca Was There Within 10 Minutes To Collect The Dog. The Other Times They Did Not Even Get Out Of Their Tuck When They Came Around 2-5 Hours After The Complaint.

 

[Dorryn]

I hate to be a jerk, but seriously, capitalizing every word makes me want to ignore everything you wrote.

 

[MrHoppes]

just keep it short

to the point and don't say anything you don't expect to be repeating in court.

Remember these calls are recorded and used as evidence.

Evidence can be twisted by a good lawyer to prove allot of different things.


From personal experience I know this will sound off the wall, but TAKE A BREATH and wait 15 seconds before calling. If the situation doesn't allow for that just keep it simple.

ALSO no humor, even if it does relieve your stress, it will most likely cause you MORE stress in the confusion.

spell check completed for readability

 

[learn2shoot]

straying from the topic just a bit but kinda follows.

I have heard people refer back to a joke and suggest it as a strategy.

joke goes like this...

Guy hears thug rummaging around in his shed, calls 911 who say "we have no police in your area it will be about 10 minutes." Guy hangs up, calls back says "no need to hurry I just shot him" Police arrive in seconds say find the thug not shot but still in the shed "I thought that you said you shot him" the guy says "I though there were no police available"...

IANAL , but I would not suggest using this tactic of saying "I already shot him" when dialing 911, as you lie to the police who are responding to your call, you piss them off and this is not a good idea. Remember the call is recorded and that lie may be used against you in some fashion.

 

[shadowalker]

I wouldn't indicate that you've shot someone when you haven't but letting 911 know you are armed is important, #1 it probably will result in a faster response time, and #2 the police hopefully will be informed that the good guys are armed and not walk into a surprise.

I used to live between North Pole and Fairbanks in Alaska, it's 15 minutes or so of a drive to either town but trooper response time was usually around 30 minutes, however if you noted to the 911 dispatcher that you were armed the response time was normally cut in half.

So basically if you were able to defend yourself they'd be right there, otherwise you are on your own .

 

[ilbob]

North Pole and Fairbanks in Alaska

My BIL lives in North Pole, AK.

 

[Owen]

It was suggested to me that if I actually shot an intruder to call 911, request an ambulance, police, and hang up.

1.) You're seriously freaking stressed. I don't care how smooth you are, there's a chance you'll incriminate yourself even if you did nothing wrong.

2.) If you announce that there's been shooting, every 22 yo cop in town is going to be trying to kick down your door, while running on pure adrenalin. You being stressed, adrenalized and armed + stressed, adrenalized, armed cops = bad juju.

 

[Bob F.]

Owen: good point. Stay cool (if possible)

Yrs ago I was vol paramedic. Private dispatch (gas station) called: we need you down here right away, click.
Rolled out, 1/4 mile from scene, MVC at intersection in front of said gas station, 2 dead, one injured, fuel running out of overturned truck 20feet from gas pumps.

"Control: 110 medic 30"
"medic 30"
"Double 6B (old, old SP codes/habit: 2 dead on scene) I need an engine"
Needless to say I was adreliline charged! Chief said later, he knew from my voice it was BAD!
"medic 30, repeat"
"I need an engine!"
"You need what?"
"I need a f@#&ing fire truck!!!!!!"

Stay safe, and cool!
Bob

 

[Davo]

People die because of miscommunication like this.

 

[chipperi]

I was a Volunteer firefighter in Baltimore county I used to love the teletypes that would print out:

e261 m9 ems3

10-50 pi 123 anystreet intersecton 123 otherstreet

clr sts ws rn off rd by drnkdvr...cpln of nk+bk pain...abg depl burns...


I will give a damngood job to whoever can decipher it. By the way this was an easy one.

 

[Apachedriver]

Just for the fun of it I'm guessing:
1st line is the call signs
2nd line is incident type code followed by address of incident
3rd line looks like "caller states was run off road by drunken driver...complaint of neck and back pain...airbag deployment burns"

 

[sm]

Communication is the key.

911 was not around when I was growing up, in fact our phone was on a "party line" - meaning we shared a line with others.
Later, the system allowed us and others to have our own phone line (number).

As a wee brat, I and other kids were taught to dial the phone number direct to Police and Fire. We practiced and had information written down because when a serious something happens, we might forget something.

"O" for operator was an option, still the Operator was going to dial Police and Fire and other Needed folks. We were taught to "not take advantage of, or abuse the "O" Operator option, as someone might really really need the Operator.
Like one of the amputees, [Veterans] that live near us.

It was important to use certain words, to make communication effective.


Now folks dial 911 to find out how long to microwave a baked potato and many words have changed context, and add so many varieties of "slang".

I am in the camp of doing away with 911.
Going back to folks having to learn to think and figure out matters (like the baked potato) and learning how to call Police, Fire, EMT and other Professionals

My take is, folks have become complacent and lazy and now just punch in 911 and expect the 911 to "read their mind".



Sheriff, I live at 123 street, my phone number is 555-5555, A man broke into our house and his shirt says County Jail. Mom has her gun and made him sit in the corner of the kitchen. Hurry!

That is basically the call that WAS made to Sheriff Dept by someone I know as a kid when a inmate from a Chain Gang got loose.

 

[chipperi]

Apachedriver Damngoodjob!!

 

[MASTEROFMALICE]

If you knew the information given to police officers by dispatch you'd be amazed anything ever got done.

My favorite call, although it definitely wasn't at the time, was a "disorderly persons" call at a 7-11. That's all I was told, just disorderly persons. Generally, disorderly persons at a 7-11 means the guy is acting stupid and simply won't leave when the cashier tells him to. Easy enough, right? My nearest backup was about five or six minutes off. Not a big deal....normally.

Everything looks O.K. from the outside. I walk into the store and look to my right and behold, what do I see? Of the seven people visible in the store, two people weren't holding a firearm in their hands. The first guy was on his knees about to be executed by the five guys standing over him, and the other guy was me.

Well, you can bet I fixed THAT in a hurry. The five guys weren't even remotely interested in killing me, or I can't imagine how that would have turned out since I definitely walked in at a SLIGHT disadvantage.

It turns out the 50-something year old guy on his knees had knocked up their 15 year old cousin in another city. He fled when they found out and they chased him into our city.