Wireless 911 Policy Questioned

A policy on handling wireless 911 calls by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) police is being questioned after three persons were found murdered on Feb. 3rd. The motive for the murders and any suspects are a mystery so far. Police do say they received an 11:43 p.m. wireless 911 call, the caller said someone needed help and gave information that led police to 6002 Patricia Ryan Dr. Police have declined to release the logging tape of the call. An officer was dispatched to the address, rang the doorbell, no one answered, so a dispatcher called back the number and got no answer. The officer left the house. At 12:23 a.m. a 911 call was again received from the same cellular phone, although police say the dispatcher didn’t know that at the time. There was nothing but the sounds of breathing on the line, and the call lasted 11 seconds. The comm center has a policy on not calling back or dispatching officers to calls that don’t exhibit an obvious sign of danger. At 3:42 a.m. neighbors reported the house was on fire and police arrived to find two bodies, and a later found a third body in a car. Read more about the situation here, and about the center’s 911 call volume here.