DC 911 Puts Woman on Hold...During a Home Invasion

[Moby]

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavli ... n-n1588581" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When seconds count, the cops are minutes away or...they put you hold. A Washington DC woman was recently the victim of a home invasion and when she called the police for help, the 911 operator made her wait. As a reminder, the average crime happens in one minute.

[philip964]

Well she should just get her pistol and shoot the BG in her house. Oh. It is Washington DC, never mind.

[Beiruty]

The people would either vote out their elected officials (anti-gunners) or endure their wicked choice.

[ELB]

A number of years ago a lawyer was suing the city of Chicago for failing to respond to a house fire -- I can't remember if someone died in the fire, or only the house was lost. Anyway, as part of discovery he got a log of all 911 calls for some large span of time, and discovered that 20% of all 911 calls were not even answered by the 911 system, never mind put on hold or otherwise handled, or mishandled.

He put the log data up on his website, but the city went to court to make him take it down because the city claimed it would help terrorists... He eventually caved and pulled it.
(I think I posted here about it, but I have trouble finding even my own old posts).

Take care of business first, then call 911.

[RPBrown]

No different in Dallas. They may come, they may not. If they do they will be late to the party. Not the responders fault, it the dispatchers, at least in Dallas it is.

[C-dub]

Wasn't it a case like this that went all the way to the SCOTUS where they ended up ruling that the police have no responsibility or duty to come to our aide? A 911 operator might be reprimanded or even fired, but the victim probably won't get a dime from the city because of this.

[VMI77]

Wasn't it a case like this that went all the way to the SCOTUS where they ended up ruling that the police have no responsibility or duty to come to our aide? A 911 operator might be reprimanded or even fired, but the victim probably won't get a dime from the city because of this.

It wasn't a "dispatch" case....the police actually showed up at the residence. There were women hiding in the home talking to 911...the police took a cursory look and left....if I remember correctly, they even came back for a second cursory look and left again. The women were ultimately found by the BG and raped. I don't remember if any were also murdered. The court ruled that the police have only a general societal obligation and no obligation to protect a specific individual.

[ELB]

...
It wasn't a "dispatch" case....the police actually showed up at the residence. There were women hiding in the home talking to 911...the police took a cursory look and left.....

Sounds like you are referring to Warren vs District of Columbia. It was not a SCOTUS case, it was decided at the DC Court of Appeals. I don't know, but suppose it was probably appealed to the SCOTUS and they declined to hear it.

There are many other state, federal, and SCOTUS decisions that affirm that the police have no duty to protect an individual absent a special relationship (like being incarcerated). Protective/restraining orders do not create a "special relationship" Castle Rock vs Gonzales (which was a SCOTUS case).

[Dragonfighter]

No different in Dallas. They may come, they may not. If they do they will be late to the party. Not the responders fault, it the dispatchers, at least in Dallas it is.

You can lay that squarely on the shoulders of Mary Suhm and those in the council who enabled her. In DFD she cut staffing to way below what it was 40 years ago when EMS first started and now that the volume has increased a hundred times, the staffing has been cut by 20% of what it was 40 years ago. DFD dispatch went from the top 5% to the bottom third in efficiency ranking in the 1st year following the cuts. But until Joe Millionaire has a family member die, or his house burns down because a storm was rolling through and there were hold times exceeding 5-7 minutes...nothing will be done. People in the southern sectors can have their houses burn, their relatives die and nothing happens.

On the 911/Police side the cuts were made by attrition with budgeting cut, disallowing funds for replacement. But hey, Dallas has a beautiful new bridge that goes nowhere and new signs coming for the convention center. So rest easy Dallas, you have nice things to look at while your house is burning.