Drama At Every Step on TV Show

The writers of the CBS-TV series “Flashpoint” threw in as much drama as they could for each character of the show, including 911 calltakers, the radio dispatchers and the officers. The show involved a family in the witness protection program who was being hunted by killers. The young daughter in the family had earlier begun calling 911 to report suspicious people, but calltaker Kate believed she was only “crying wolf” during these calls. When the killers actually did break into the house, the girl called asking for Kate, who wouldn’t take her call. There was gunfire on the line, wounding the girl’s mother. The rest of the show involved Kate’s guilt over how she handled the girl’s call, and the officers trying to find the girl and her father, both on the run from the killers.As usual for TV shows, the police department set-up was strange—a room full of calltakers and then a lone woman out at the front counter performing all the radio work, all while dealing with the sone of an officer who hasn’t seen his father in 10 years.

Radio communications is not only loud and clear, but available everywhere. Static, interference and dead spots are apparently entirely non-existant in the city, perhaps because it’s all taking place in Canada. All the officers wear tactical headsets for hands-free radio communications.

Officers strangely travel with an extensive assortment of gear strapped to their bodies, including automatic weapons. Citizens seem entirely comfortable talking to the officers, despite their armament. The officers travel from place to place in giant black, unmarked SUVs.

The episode hangs on Kate re-contacting the little girl, who split up from her father, and re-gaining her trust. Flashbacks show Kate talking to the little girl on the earlier phone calls—never went to school and spent all her time at home. It turns out the girl reminds Kate  of her own daughter, who died from an illness. Kate says she can’t talk to the little girl on the phone—she’s too distraught. But one of the officers gives her a three-minute counseling session, and Kate is ready to work.

The episode ends with Kate riding out into the field with an officer to see that the little girl is brought in safely. “It’s me, Katy,” she tells the frightened little girl after the bad guy is killed. The little girl runs to her arms, and is then re-united with her father.

Kate heads back to her console and puts on her headset. “911. What’s your emergency?” she asks the next caller.

Watch the 42-minute episode on-line here.