ARRRRGGHHHHH!! Dallas 911

[txinvestigator1]

Really interested in Stump's opinion:

This morning at a very busy and major intersection in Dallas, 6 lanes on each road with a concrete median.

A dude in the very center of the intersection was looking straight up, his palms together in front of him, eyes closed, talking to ??.

He just stands there nearly being road kill. I dial 911, give a description and location, and while I am talking to the call taker the male walks to the sidewalk and begins to walk away.

The call taker now does not want to send an officer because "walking down the sidewalk is not illegal"! I explain to her the fact tghat this guy is an EDP, maybe on drugs and needs to be checked out. She argues more, then relunctently agrees to send an officer.

I believe she never entered the call.

DPD is notorious for this kind of stuff.

:mad:

[jeff92k7]

I feel your pain. I was in Dallas one day and witnessed a BMV (burglary of a motor vehicle). I called 911 and they said they were too busy. They said that they could send an officer if I really wanted them to but I would have to wait a couple of hours for them to clear all their other calls first.

To make it even worse, when I drove out of the area about 15 minutes later, I saw a couple of DPD cars parked at a restaurant a block away, and another one at a gas station half a block past that. Now they could have all three been on a call(s), but that restaurant constantly has officers eating at it, and there was no sign of anything abnormal occurring at the gas station. Surely one of those officers could have responded, had they received a call from dispatch.

Dallas 911 has got to have some of the lowest "customer service" in the entire U.S.

[u538]

If suspect is not selling you roses it may take 4 hr's for DPD to show up lol

As jeff92k7 said "Dallas 911 has got to have some of the lowest "customer service" in the entire U.S." and if you think thay are bad try the Dallas Water Dept.

[Stump]

That would be a "check the welfare" call here. It is considered a priority, but on a lesser scale than most (burg, stolen vehicle with suspect description, robberies).
I have NEVER told someone I wouldn't send an officer out. I have told people, however, that their "loud music" complaint will have to wait because of the civil disturbance (aka "Riot") downtown.

BMV, Jeff? We consider those larcenies.... I have never heard of someone saying something so stupid as what you say that calltaker told you.

Just keep in mind - unless you are at the dispatch center, you don't know what is really happening. Did you listen to the scanner? I know I have given out jobs like that to my guys, and THEY are the ones who decide it isn't worth their time, and they close the job.

Who runs the Dallas 911 center? I would write a letter to the newspaper at the very least.

[u538]

Mostly I have been told that thay are working a traffic accident "wreck" and we will get on there as soon as possible or something like that

[Scubapro]

Stump said "I know I have given out jobs like that to my guys, and THEY are the ones who decide it isn't worth their time, and they close the job."

And Stump, I think that's the way it should be. The Officer needs to decide if a call is going to be answered or not. It appears, sometimes, dispatchers feel the need to argue the case of call handling. Now, I know many dispatchers. Don't think I'm coming down on them, but, dispatchers are just that- DISPATCHING calls; providing information so the field officer can make sound decisions. 95% of dispatchers do just that, don't get me started on the other 5%.

[Stump]

Scuba, to an extent, I will agree with you.
However, the cops on the road aren't the ones who hear what is going on over the phone, or how many times someone has called in, etc...
I have asserted myself on occasion and overrode a cop's decision. And every time I do, I am backed up by my Sgt.
Keep in mind dispatchers are not just conduits of information - we make informed decisions.

[Scubapro]

And here inlies my problem. If you are hearing things, those "things" should be passed to the officer. He/she, in turn, may come to the same decision you did.

See, you hit one of those "nerves" for me. Count to ten..... Now, I don't know how things are run back east, your department may actually work the way you describe. It may even run easier. But, for me as an officer, I like to have all the information to make the best decision I can.

I'll get off my soapbox now...

[Stump]

I was re-reading my post when and realized that it didn't come off the way I intended. Of course the cops are going to get the info, but saying I have a "Very Violent Domestic" doesn't have the same feeling as what the calltaker is hearing.

If I give out a loud music annoyance (I am just picking something simple), and the cop decides to close the job without going, then that citizen is going to call up again and again, and get more aggravated that the cops haven't arrived. If the cop is aware of the fact that the person has called in 6 times, and STILL closes the job, something like that is not acceptable in my opinion. The calltakers will have to take the brunt of the tantrum and they will have no answers for the citizen.
I think we should just agree to disagree.

[u538]

Originally posted by Scubapro
And here inlies my problem. If you are hearing things, those "things" should be passed to the officer. He/she, in turn, may come to the same decision you did.

See, you hit one of those "nerves" for me. Count to ten..... Now, I don't know how things are run back east, your department may actually work the way you describe. It may even run easier. But, for me as an officer, I like to have all the information to make the best decision I can.

I'll get off my soapbox now...

LoL good one I know sometimes my Dispatch get's to asking like whats going on out there? you tell me ? We are just J.A.F.O.'s Just Another F#&%(%! Observer
Also I love that see rule #21

[txinvestigator1]

Stump, I'll give you a couple more.

I was working a two-man protective detail at a the local office of a national business. I was stationed outside, and another officer was inside. (We are armed, plain-clothes)

An employee had been terminated for making threats against two supervisors. We discovered bomb making plans in his locker.

DPD was notified and came out and took the plans as evidence. The officer ran the subject and several felony warrants were discovered. The officer said to call if he showed and they would run over and pop him on the warrants.

A couple of days later the guy showed up. I called 911 and gave the call taker the guys Name, DOB, etc., and informed her the Subject had warrants and was on site. (He was intercepted by us and escorted to a conference room. He was there to get his last paycheck.) At that point he was not causing a problem. The call taker refused to send a unit based on this information. She said that there was nothing they could do unless he "was told to leave and refused, or caused a disturbance.

I lied and said he was refusing to leave (I wanted to keep him there for the arrest on the warrant) and she argued that I was lieing. Frustrated, I hung up and we ran him off.

:mad:

[Stump]

OMG TX - I just want to come down there and SLAP those calltakers! There is something seriously wrong with the operators at that center, from the sounds of it. I would imagine that that center is busy enough that it has calltakers and dispatchers (so dispatchers don't have to answer the phone PLUS dispatch). Am I correct?
Anyway, did you tell the calltaker you are a PI? It should not matter but I am curious. Did you mention the original officer's name that told you to call?
If that happened here, it would be entered as a "warrant" job. Sounds as if this calltaker didn't know how to classify it (if she wanted to know if he was refusing to leave, it sounds like she was thinking a "customer problem" and ignoring the warrant part). You had the DOB, it is easy enough to look up (only dispatchers can look it up, though, so the calltaker would have to put a job in for us to even know about your call). It may take a while (it would be a lower priority considering you had him in custody with no problems) but it would still be a priority job.
I can't believe she accused you of lying!! The most we can do here is to say something like "Are you aware it is a crime to falsly report something to 911?" or something like that.... We get a lot of people who are calling in a loud music annoyance and, realizing we won't send the cops out right away, say "And I think he has a warrant too" just to raise the priority.
Who runs your 911 center there? I would call a supervisor and ask for a review of the tape (with you present, of course).

[u538]

I hear ya tex sound abought right for Dallas Dispatch. Its like it's worse if you work Security getting them out sometimes I kinda understand theres alot of "supercops" out there but Its not like you are calling becuse you dont have anything else to do. When you need them you need them now. The biggest problam that I have had is with DUI/DWI calls. I call Dallas Sheriff's Office for that. I had this guy at aprox 6.00 Rush hour on South 35 by Mockingbird past me on the pass side crossed 3 lanes hit the divider swerving in and out of traffic we took East 30 and was passed over to Mesquite. Mesquite picked the guy up at the city limit's the guy was smoking and drinking at the same time. just dont get Dallas sometime's I was told by dispatch that thay wre busy and didnt have time for it I asked for a supervisor and went from there. Thats what 2 Divisions for Dallas I think. doing good just to get them to show. However I work with off duty officers all the time there are alot of great officers for the dept but you cand say much for the Dispatch side of it

[Stump]

TX, Kind of off the subject, but ...
When you work a PI detail, do you call in to 911 and tell them where you are going to be in case someone calls in reporting a suspicious vehicle (which is you)? We have PI's that call us to tell us when and where they will be working their investigative details along with their vehicle description and plate #.... I would ask the PI's here if that is a rule, but I only know the one, and he is an *** (not because he's a PI, just by nature).


U - Reckless drivers here get a broadcast only to the cars in the area. We do not send a car on the job. We don't tell citizens that "the cops are too busy" but that we will let the cars in the area know. (Just out of curiosity, are you calling in reckless drivers as part of a security job?)
As far as security guards - that is a whole other ballgame. We have security guards that refer to themselves as "Officer" when calling 911. When I ask for their employee number, they hedge and finally it comes out that they aren't actual police officers. (Happens ALL the time). It is fine if security officers want to refer to themselves as Captain, Major, Officer, Kung Foo Fighter, whatever in their own surroundings, - as long as when calling 911 you say you are a security guard. And most of them try to tell our calltakers how to do their job by refusing to answer questions, and giving inproper information. Not all are like that, and I am sure a lot are very good, but that is the experience here for the most part. *I didn't want to take away from this thread so if anyone wants to respond, you might want to make a new thread and I'll move my answer*

[u538]

I know there are alot of people doing this job I dont care for alot of them out there. Thay make us all look bad. as for me its not part of my job just trying to keep someone that don't need to be driving off the road and from killing someone or myself. Im not trying to be something Im not nor am I trying to cause any problams on the board. I can see why police see the Security Industry as thay do I work with the police every day and I also see other security companies out there I can't beleve that the state let's them work like thay do. I hope one day that thing's will change.I dont have the awnser's on that.