Bartholomew Roberts
Moderator
Except in this case, they managed to call police 30 minutes BEFORE the attack happened and the police STILL arrived too late.
I'm not bashing the police here; but people don't depend on 911 as your only means of defense.
http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/204249_respond_01met..html
Police explain reaction
911 call didn't prevent slaying
11/01/2000
By Connie Piloto / The Dallas Morning News
As Fidel Gómez deals with the grief of losing a son, he wonders whether Dallas police could have responded more quickly to a 911 call and prevented the 22-year-old's brutal killing.
It took police dispatchers 20 minutes to assign a call reporting Elvis Gómez was going to be killed, officials said. And it took another 12 minutes for officers to get to the Oak Lawn apartment he shared with two roommates.
By the time officers arrived – about 40 minutes after the initial call – they found Mr. Gómez dead. He was stabbed with a saw and found inside his bathtub, police said.
Shortly after the Oct. 19 killing, police and fire officials conducted an internal review to determine what happened between the time the caller dialed 911 and the time officers arrived at the complex in the 4100 block of Avondale Avenue. But following the review, police and fire officials said dispatchers did not violate any procedures.
"It just seems odd," said Fidel Gómez, who lives in Panama with his wife and two younger children. "The officers were alerted. I just don't understand."
City officials said officers were busy and the caller told dispatchers Mr. Gómez and the man who planned to kill him were not home at the time. The caller said the crime was to take place in an hour and the killer wanted the caller to help in the slaying.
"We do feel like this is a tragedy," said Assistant Chief Thomas Ward, who oversees the communications section. "That's why we looked at it. We wanted to see what we could do better and ensure that this doesn't happen again."
Chief Ward and Assistant Fire Chief Roland Gamez said they listened to the 911 tape and reviewed the incidents that officers were working and responding to at the time. They concluded that department procedures were followed properly.
The 911 dispatcher who took the call assigned it a priority two response, which does not require immediate assistance, before transferring it to the police dispatchers.
All officers on the shift were busy responding to priority one calls, which receive the highest response level, or were tending to previous calls, Chief Ward said.
Fire dispatchers answer 911 calls and assign a priority level to each one, depending on the type of incident that is being reported.
Shootings, stabbings, officer assists, people in danger, and kidnappings or robberies in progress are among the calls listed as priority one.
Dispatchers are allowed to use discretion when assigning priority, police said.
"There was not an immediate threat," Chief Gamez said. "The incident was not happening, and the suspect was away from the location. That is a priority two call."
A man called 911 from the apartment complex at 1:48 p.m. and told the dispatcher that his roommate was going to kill a man.
The caller and dispatcher were on the line for five minutes, Chief Gamez said.
"It was a complicated call," Chief Gamez said. "She [the dispatcher] was able to stay calm and dissect what this caller was saying and translate it into a reportable form so that police could respond to it."
The caller dialed 911 a second time and told the dispatcher the suspect and the victim were headed to his apartment and were due to arrive in about five minutes, police said.
An officer was already on the way. When officers arrived 11 minutes later, Mr. Gómez was dead.
Officers banged on the apartment door. Elias Delgado answered the door and let police inside. Mr. Delgado, 32, had scratches on his arms and body and was bloody, according to police reports. Investigators found evidence of a struggle inside the apartment as well as other items probably used in the crime.
He was charged with murder and is being held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on $60,000 bail. Mr. Delgado declined an interview request.
The Dallas County medical examiner's office ruled Mr. Gómez died from sharp forced injuries.
Officers also located the 911 caller in the apartment complex office. He told investigators that Mr. Delgado did not let him into the apartment.
Police have not charged anyone else in the killing, but the case is still under investigation.
Mr. Gómez had moved from his native Panama to Dallas in August, his father said. He planned to become a priest and wanted to finish his college studies in the United States.
Mr. Gómez was an exchange student and spent a year living in California during his senior year in high school, said his father.
He met the roommates on the Internet and told his parents he was having a good time in Dallas.
"My son was looking for a better future," Fidel Gómez said. "He was happy there. The time for him to achieve had arrived, and he was ready. That's what hurts so much."
I'm not bashing the police here; but people don't depend on 911 as your only means of defense.
http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/204249_respond_01met..html
Police explain reaction
911 call didn't prevent slaying
11/01/2000
By Connie Piloto / The Dallas Morning News
As Fidel Gómez deals with the grief of losing a son, he wonders whether Dallas police could have responded more quickly to a 911 call and prevented the 22-year-old's brutal killing.
It took police dispatchers 20 minutes to assign a call reporting Elvis Gómez was going to be killed, officials said. And it took another 12 minutes for officers to get to the Oak Lawn apartment he shared with two roommates.
By the time officers arrived – about 40 minutes after the initial call – they found Mr. Gómez dead. He was stabbed with a saw and found inside his bathtub, police said.
Shortly after the Oct. 19 killing, police and fire officials conducted an internal review to determine what happened between the time the caller dialed 911 and the time officers arrived at the complex in the 4100 block of Avondale Avenue. But following the review, police and fire officials said dispatchers did not violate any procedures.
"It just seems odd," said Fidel Gómez, who lives in Panama with his wife and two younger children. "The officers were alerted. I just don't understand."
City officials said officers were busy and the caller told dispatchers Mr. Gómez and the man who planned to kill him were not home at the time. The caller said the crime was to take place in an hour and the killer wanted the caller to help in the slaying.
"We do feel like this is a tragedy," said Assistant Chief Thomas Ward, who oversees the communications section. "That's why we looked at it. We wanted to see what we could do better and ensure that this doesn't happen again."
Chief Ward and Assistant Fire Chief Roland Gamez said they listened to the 911 tape and reviewed the incidents that officers were working and responding to at the time. They concluded that department procedures were followed properly.
The 911 dispatcher who took the call assigned it a priority two response, which does not require immediate assistance, before transferring it to the police dispatchers.
All officers on the shift were busy responding to priority one calls, which receive the highest response level, or were tending to previous calls, Chief Ward said.
Fire dispatchers answer 911 calls and assign a priority level to each one, depending on the type of incident that is being reported.
Shootings, stabbings, officer assists, people in danger, and kidnappings or robberies in progress are among the calls listed as priority one.
Dispatchers are allowed to use discretion when assigning priority, police said.
"There was not an immediate threat," Chief Gamez said. "The incident was not happening, and the suspect was away from the location. That is a priority two call."
A man called 911 from the apartment complex at 1:48 p.m. and told the dispatcher that his roommate was going to kill a man.
The caller and dispatcher were on the line for five minutes, Chief Gamez said.
"It was a complicated call," Chief Gamez said. "She [the dispatcher] was able to stay calm and dissect what this caller was saying and translate it into a reportable form so that police could respond to it."
The caller dialed 911 a second time and told the dispatcher the suspect and the victim were headed to his apartment and were due to arrive in about five minutes, police said.
An officer was already on the way. When officers arrived 11 minutes later, Mr. Gómez was dead.
Officers banged on the apartment door. Elias Delgado answered the door and let police inside. Mr. Delgado, 32, had scratches on his arms and body and was bloody, according to police reports. Investigators found evidence of a struggle inside the apartment as well as other items probably used in the crime.
He was charged with murder and is being held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on $60,000 bail. Mr. Delgado declined an interview request.
The Dallas County medical examiner's office ruled Mr. Gómez died from sharp forced injuries.
Officers also located the 911 caller in the apartment complex office. He told investigators that Mr. Delgado did not let him into the apartment.
Police have not charged anyone else in the killing, but the case is still under investigation.
Mr. Gómez had moved from his native Panama to Dallas in August, his father said. He planned to become a priest and wanted to finish his college studies in the United States.
Mr. Gómez was an exchange student and spent a year living in California during his senior year in high school, said his father.
He met the roommates on the Internet and told his parents he was having a good time in Dallas.
"My son was looking for a better future," Fidel Gómez said. "He was happy there. The time for him to achieve had arrived, and he was ready. That's what hurts so much."