Same old story: Kid dials 911, operator refuses help, mom dies

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jimpeel

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http://www.kgab.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=104673&article=442806

911 Ignores Boy's Call, Mom Dies

A 6-year-old Detroit boy said he called 911 when his mother collapsed and eventually died, but the operator refused to send help.
Saturday, April 8, 2006

United Press International

A 6-year-old Detroit boy said he called 911 when his mother collapsed and eventually died, but the operator refused to send help, a report says.

Police are investigating whether the emergency operator ignored Robert Turner's call after his mother, Sherel Turner, 46, collapsed on the kitchen floor in February, the Detroit Free Press reported. Turner suffered from a heart condition.

According to 911 transcripts, the operator told Robert: Let me speak to her before I send police over there.

You shouldn't be playing on the phone, the operator said. Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble.

Several hours passed before help arrived, and by then Turner had died.
 
I am not a LEO basher, I have had far more good experiences than bad. I have had more argumentative, rude, and unresponsive 911 operators than LEOs. Most are good, but by percentage, I have received more attitude from 911. I call 911 an average of 15 times per week for my work.

This is a sad story, I am sure appropriate action will be taken. In most jurisdictions LEO will respond to any address where a 911 call originated and do a wellness check.
 
That's what you get with $8/hr. 911 operators, I guess. Too bad the boy is now an orphan - I hope his family (if he has any) sues and whoever is in charge of 911 there has to fork over about $10 million to him.

That's the only language that they seem to understand.
 
A sad and tragic story, but the "Same old story" ???? Sorry, but I don't buy the spin.

This incident is representative of an incredibly miniscule percentage of bungled 911 calls. Certainly not worth classifying as the "same old story"... :rolleyes:

In this case, the 911 operator's performance should be investigated and appropriate action taken - including charges of negligence if it applies.

"Same old story" gun owner goes berserk and shoots up a Denny's... Not fair when it's aimed at us, not fair aimed at others.

JMHO.

-Dave
 
Tragic for sure.

But without all of the facts its difficult for me to start accusing the 911 dispatcher of wanton negligence.

I mean there could be a history of prank 911 calls from that telephone number or something.

So until all of the facts come out, I am going to withhold passing judgement on the dispatcher.
 
911 Operators are the life blood of law enforcement. Without a dispatch, the police are blind. When a 911 call is placed, it is usually logged, prioritized and placed in a "call box" or assigned to an officer. In larger cities, the officer goes from one call to the next in order of priority. A suspected prank 911 call will be rated right in there with "cat stuck in a tree" call. Not much priority and though it be assigned, it may be hours before the police show up.

The operator could possibly have given more credence to the call, but I've gotta be honest with you, kids call 911 a lot. They're taught to call 911 in school and by the police, whenever they are afraid (in some areas)...sometimes their imaginations act up as children are apt to do.

As for other 911 calls, there are all types, calls because a fast food place got the order wrong. 911 for someone giving incorrect change at a gas station. 911 because someone "thought" they saw a drug deal an hour ago. 911 because a cat/bird/dog got hit by a car. 911 because the neighbors dog crapped in their lawn. 911 because billy beat up jimmy at school. The list is endless.

I'm not making excuses for 911 operators who screw up, but you've got to keep in perspective what exactly they do day in and day out. Oh and by the way, I've not met a 911 operator for $8.00 an hour yet. They are hard working professionals who work in a very stressful environment and they are expected to do things over the phone most of us cannot even do in person. They are part mind reader, part geographical genius, part counselor, part emt, part lawyer, part cop and all human. Keep that in mind when bashing your local operators, they're doing something that takes sacrifice and talent, it is not a job for a hack.
 
Good post, alduro.
icon14.gif
 
Bluesman

The kid's family has now retained the services or Geoffrey Fieger and are suing. Go to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/eveningnews/main612150.shtml and click on the video "911 Operator Ignores Real Call".

If it isn't this: http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000715emergency3.asp

Or this: http://news.com.com/911+failure+in+the+Bay+State/2100-1037_3-5723485.html

Or this: http://bloggingforbryant.blogspot.com/2006/03/former-chattanooga-mayor-corker.html

It is this: http://hematite.com/dragon/die911.html

Or this: http://www.thewbalchannel.com/11investigates/4692757/detail.html (audio link included)

Or this: http://home.comcast.net/~matthewwoodtx/911.htm

Or this: http://www.cincypost.com/news/1998/pope012398.html

This operator simply fell asleep during the call http://www.howardforums.com/archive/topic/427722-1.html

And the end result is usually something like this ...
... according to the ... article from the Detroit News [ http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060408/METRO/604080399 ], "The 911 operator remains on the job amid the investigation."
Click to expand...

And then there is this unpublished court decision: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=nc&vol=appeals2002/&invol=011370-1 which absolves the authorities from these failures.

And it will only get worse with this: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/il10_kirk/VOIP911.html
 
In this particular case, the 911 operator should be charged with Voluntary Manslaughter and, when convicted, sentenced to some years in the pokey.
 
Rivers

Without some finding of intent on her part to ignore the child in a purposeful way, the best they could come up with would be negligent homicide or even simple negligence. I believe either to be appropriate in this case.

As for those who state that there may have been a history of prank calls from that number, I do not believe there is a history file which pops up on the operator's screen.
 
alduro said:
As for other 911 calls, there are all types, calls because a fast food place got the order wrong. 911 for someone giving incorrect change at a gas station. 911 because someone "thought" they saw a drug deal an hour ago. 911 because a cat/bird/dog got hit by a car. 911 because the neighbors dog crapped in their lawn. 911 because billy beat up jimmy at school. The list is endless.
Click to expand...
I live in Michigan and in my county there is no other number to call. If the police had a non emergency number to call it would reduce this quite a bit. However, there are some funding/evaluation issues with 911 so the Sheriff would like to maximize the number of calls.
In the case under discussion it hasn't been established yet that the kid dealt with the same operator for each call.
 
Oh and by the way, I've not met a 911 operator for $8.00 an hour yet
Click to expand...
no kidding. up here that position is highly coveted, not that the pay is really high, but they often work overtime. and starting hourly is about $18, jumps to $21 i believe after three months. on top of that the benefits are excellent.

another good position is the fire department dispatcher. starting pay is $24 an hour. if it werent for the mandatory psych evals i'd have my applications in for either of those.
 
In Bloomington Mn for example 911 is used as the general switchboard for the local PD.
When my motorcycle was stolen a year ago i searched the phone book for the Bloomington police number. The only number i could find was for "police info" so i called it.
The nice man who answered advised me to call 911 and ask to be connected to Auto theft.
(911--not just emergencies anymore].
 
Heard the tape

I heard the tape played on a news program. It was a news story that was supposed to demonstrate the tragedy of the opr. negligence, I guess, but I noticed that the whole time they had captions on when the kid was talking, because he was seemingly talking in kind of an unintelligable whisper voice. I could not make it out myself. The kid did not sound the least bit excited or urgent in his voice. I can see where that could be interpreted as a kid playing with the phone, but the opr. did seem pretty impatient with him and perhaps someone should have responded sooner. I guess that was a "low priority" on a big city system, but here in smallsville, even with it's faults, you would get a response alot faster than that!
 
We have a similar problem here with using 911 for everything. I hate it! I call the non-emergency number and get routed to 911! 911 should be for immediate problems only - life or death! If my car is broken into, someone is tresspassing on my property, someone's blocking my driveway, I should not have to call 911. I finally asked at the precinct near my house for the direct number to that precinct (incidentally I asked the officer fingerprinting me for my firearms license renewal) and he gave it to me. Now I just call there and ask to speak to the watch commander and then explain what my "non life threating issue" is and it works.

Our neigborhood held a meeting about a month ago and asked the captain of the precinct to speak to us about how we can work on crime reduction. I would have never gotten that organized having to call 911. Unfortunatly 911 is not controled by the police, fire, or ambulance. Here it's a combined city/county operation with little to no input for them various departments. It's not uncommon for the city police to respond to calls outside the limits and the county police to respond to city incidents. There is even a county firestation inside the city limits!
 
alduro wrote:

They're taught to call 911 in school and by the police, whenever they are afraid (in some areas)...sometimes their imaginations act up as children are apt to do.
Click to expand...

WHAT? The boy calls and said his mother has passed out. Or is unconscious. He gets told, "Let me speak to her before I send police over there."??? "You shouldn't be playing on the phone, now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble."

What kind of crap is that? Saying his mom is passed out and he gets told to quit playing around? My kids call 911 if I am passed out on the floor and they get told to quit playing around, the state better have some DEEP, DEEP, DEEP, pockets.....that is just assinine.

Bottom line is black and white. A woman is dead "BECAUSE", a 911 operator made a judgement call. They are not paid to make judgement calls, they are paid to ALERT PARAMEDICS, LEO, FIRE, ECT. THAT IS ALL!!! If it turns out to be a prank, LEOs can fry somebody. But as a 911 operator you DO NOT HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY OR AUTHORITY to make a judgement call when someones life is on the line. :mad: :barf:
 
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