Dispatcher Dissects 911 Call During Murder Trial

The Seminole County (Fla.) sheriff’s dispatcher who fielded a telephone call from George Zimmerman was a six-year veteran of the agency, but in testimony during Zimmerman’s murder trial last week, he said he received just one month of side-by-side training before working on his own. Sean Noffke spent nearly 50 minutes on the stand explaining his job, and answering questions from the prosecutor and Zimmerman’s defense attorney. He said there are about 30 dispatchers on-duty during a typical shift, and that both 911 and 7-digit calls telephone calls are answered by the same team. He explained the comm center’s method of prioritizing incidents based on information provided by callers. Noffke then explained that Zimmerman’s call came in on a 7-digit, non-emergency line, and that he heard him describe a suspicious person. At one point Zimmerman said the person was running, and that he was following the person. “We don’t need you to do that,” Noffke told Zimmerman. Under questioning by the defense attorney, Noffke explained, “You don’t want to give direct orders to a person,” adding that the policy was meant to limit county liability. Both attorneys asked Noffke several times to characterize Zimmerman’s words, and if he had any concern about Zimmerman’s use of profanity. Watch a video of Noffke’s entire testimony after the break.