March 6, 19xx

From: Chief Dispatcher Xxxxx

To: Lt. Xxxxx

Re: COMPLAINT INVESTIGATION

In response to your note, I made a tape copy of the telephone conversation between the citizen reporting a woman acting bizarre at Oak and Main St. and Dispatcher Xxxxx. The caller complained that Xxxxx spoke, "as if she was too busy to take the call."

Listening to the call, I heard Xxxxx determine what was occurring, and then begin to ask the caller questions. Xxxxx did not wait for the caller to completely answer her questions. Rather, Xxxxx interrupted the caller three times to ask the next question.

At the end of the call, Xxxxx asked the caller, "Did you want Officer Xxxxx to make contact with you?" The caller replied, "I don't care...". Xxxxx interrupted her to say, "Thank you very much ma'am. I appreciate it. Officer's already on the way." Xxxxx then disconnected.

PSD Xxxxx did not give the caller an opportunity to fully explain what was occurring at the beginning of the call. Instead, she interrupted the caller three times to ask about the subject's description. At the end of the call, Xxxxx interrupted the caller again and didn't allow her to finish her sentence. Lastly, she hung up without allowing the caller to acknowledge the police department's response or to ask additional questions.

I checked the activity level during the time of the call and found that incidents were being entered about every five minutes, and that Xxxxx did not take another telephone call for over two minutes. The activity apparently did not dictate hurrying or abruptly ending the call.

By any measure, Xxxxx' method of obtaining information and abrupt ending of the call gave the caller impression the police department was too busy to listen to her problem and that we weren't interested in everything she had to say.

I suggest a counseling session with Xxxxx to review the call and solicit suggestions on how she can better handle calls in the future.

Let me know how you would like to proceed.

Follow-up memo on the counseling session that occurred