A Gwinnett County (Geo.) dispatcher was docked one day of vacation for a mistake that ended with an officer shooting and killing two women at their home. Phil Raines was given a one-day suspension for his mistake in July 2009, and chose to give up one day of his vacation. According to county police officials, a woman dialed 911 to report her 51 year-old daughter was suicidal. When asked by Raines if the daughter had a gun, the mother replied, “I think she does. I don’t know.” But Raines then noted in the CAD entry, “No 69 in the house,” indicating there was no gun. Off. Lyndsey Perry was dispatched to the home, and entered without a back-up officer or taking other pre-cautions. As she entered, the mother warned her, “My daughter has a gun and she is going to shoot you. You have to shoot her,” police reports state. Moments later, the daughter came down the stairs and around the corner, pointing a gun at Perry. The officer fired at the daughter, fatally wounding her, but bullets also struck the mother, who also died. A police investigation found Perry fired in self-defense, and that Raines had erred in relaying information from the mother’s 911 call. The family of the victims say the light discipline is a “huge mistake.” Read more about the incident here.
3 comments… add one
What is interesting in the article is that the dispatcher had the nerve to appeal the VERY light discipline on this saying in his own defense that he “Correctly summarized the call.”
I would want to ask Dispatcher Raines this, if the mother reported to you, when asked if teh suspect had a gun, “I think she does. I don’t know.” How is indicating there there was no gun a correct summary? At minimum the correct summary SHOULD have been, “Suspects mother thinks the suspect may have a gun, but she is not sure.”
Man up Dispatcher Raines, you made a BIG mistake. Gratefully accept the light consequences you received and admit you made a mistake, one that most likely lead to the death of two people!
“I think she does. I don’t know.” at my center this would have come out ( suicidal suspect possibly armed with a 10-49 ) anything less than is is negligent and stupid. Furthermore, a one/two day suspension is embarrissing. Again, at our center-this would possible be cause for termination; at minimum re-training. This is the difference between high standards and low standards and this PD is apparently on the low end with no expections of excellence from their employees.
“I think she does, I don’t know” would have been emphasized in a CAD call in my agency. As a 911 calltaker, I would have noted that and verified with radio operator that he or she read it out to have a backup unit enroute. As a radio operator, that note would have deserved one or 2 backup units and hope that the initial unit would wait for those units. Grave mistake, but alas, we are human but that is not an excuse, just a fact.
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