TV Reporter Finds Call ‘Dumping’

KYW-TV reporter Walt Hunter discovered that Philadelphia’s police dispatchers are authorized to “dump” certain categories of incidents, cancelling them out from CAD, and leaving callers waiting for hours, believing that an officer is simply delayed. Among the qualifying incidents are “disturbance, fight on highway,” “firebox,” “investigate persons” and “illegal parking.” Hunter waved a copy of the regulations on-air, but didn’t explain why calltakers were accepting the calls in the first place, or exactly what triggers what the police term as “dumping” the calls (waiting 2 hours, too many incidents, too few officers, etc.). Read the story and watch the TV report here.