A woman who was witnessing a robbery on a Seattle (Wash.) bus did the right thing—she used her cellular phone to dial 911 and clearly tell the dispatcher she was reporting “a theft and robbery on a bus.” However, King County sheriff’s officials say that the woman and another 911 caller were unclear about what was happening, and that’s why a deputy wasn’t dispatched to the incident. Now a KOMO-TV reporter obtained the logging tape of the 911 call from the woman, and it reveals the dispatcher explained to the witness,”You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this.” The woman then called the bus dispatcher and eventually Seattle police, who responded to the location and spoke to the victim. Read more about the incident here, and watch a video news report after the break. Update: A sheriff’s spokesperson says the dispatcher had just been released from six months of training, and that he misunderstood the caller who he said spoke in the past tense. Read the sheriff’s department explanation here.
3 comments… add one
sounds like the dispatcher needs to be fired, no questions asked.
Bad complainant and rookie dispatcher doesn’t equate to termination..but we only heard a snippet if the tape (the most media worthy to illustrate their point) so who knows the real story? Was she saying this was cold, just occurred, or in-progress.
Based on the audio we have it seems a response is warranted but termination isn’t. Call-taker sounded professional and patient explaining the situation so clearly, something had to be said that we didn’t hear to elicit that response.
I agree, John. Certainly doesn’t sound good but we shouldn’t form an opinion until we’ve heard the entire call.
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