Did Dispatcher Handle Child’s Call Correctly?

The Detroit (Mich.) police chief says he’s ordered an investigation into how an unnamed dispatcher handled a 911 from an 8 year-old child reporting that her mother and father had been shot inside their home. Chief Warren Evans released about one-half of the logging tape of the call, but a TV station obtained the full recording, which indicates the dispatcher was skeptical throughout of the child’s claims that her mother was bleeding and her father was dead. “I’m not totally comfortable with the demeanor of the dispatcher,” Evans told reporters, and said the response time was also in question. He did not disclose how long it took officers to reach the scene, or what type of incident the dispatcher entered—a crime or a prank call. On the 911 call the girl said her mother was breathing, however, she did not survive. The father was also killed. Police have identified a suspect and are also looking for a second person. The call ended abruptly without the dispatcher saying “Goodbye.” In 2006 Detroit dispatcher Sharon Nichols was fired for mishandling a 911 call from a 5 year-old boy reporting his mother was unconscious. Nichols believed it was a prank call. Last July an arbitrator ruled Nichols should be re-hired because of inconsistencies in how the city handled the discipline. Read more here, and listen to telephone call. here