Did Officers Stop For White Castle "Sliders" En Route To 911 Calls? Husband Murdered Ronayle White

NBC5.com ^ | 05.22.02

[Coleus]

White Castle Security Tapes Subpoenaed In 911 Investigation

Did Officers Stop For "Sliders" En Route To Distress Call?

CHICAGO -- A lawyer representing the family of a woman who was murdered as she called 911 has subpoenaed videotapes from two fast food restaurants.

NBC5's Derrick Blakey reported that while it's only a tip, the attorney would like to see security tapes from White Castle restaurants at 103rd Street and Michigan Avenue, and at 11th and Halsted streets. They want to determine whether the first Chicago police officers assigned to respond to Ronayle White's distress call went for "sliders" instead.

"They do have a number of cameras at each store and (because) they are in good lighting, they're able to show the license plate numbers, occupants of cars and other identifying information," Richard Mallen, attorney for the White family, told NBC5.

According to Blakley, Mallen was reluctant to guess how credible the tip might be without seeing the videotape. But the 103rd St. White Castle is known to be a popular stop for Fifth District police, who often go there for food or coffee during their shift.

White made three 911 calls before she was shot to death by her estranged husband, but the first of three squad cars dispatched arrived last, 17 minutes after the initial call. What's more, police have no systematic data on response times, because most officers don't use squad-car computer terminals, called PDTs, to report their arrival at crime scenes.

"The department policy is to respond on the PDT on arrival at your assignment, as soon as you arrive there," Fraternal Order of Police president Mark Donahue said. Blakely reported that he was told that the first car assigned to White's distress call did just that, but most do not. Police said further that it's not an issue, citing that out of 2.7 million 911 calls last year, there were only 130 complaints of slow response.

But without regular use of the PDT's, Blakley pointed out, no one knows how many other times response may have been slow with no complaint filed.

"The use of those terminals can only improve safety and service," said Mallen. "I cannot understand why they would not be used."

Blakley looked at just how seldom the PDT's are used and inside sources indicated that they are used on far less than 10 percent of all calls.

Donahue, newly-elected to his position, said his union wouldn't object to installing more sophisticated satellite tracking gear that can pinpoint every squad car at all times. Blakley's sources told him that in the past, the FOP opposed that, claiming it was "a big brother"intrusion.

 

Where Were Cops During Ronyale White's 911 Calls?

White's Mother Speaks Publicly For First Time

CHICAGO --

	PREVIOUS ARTICLES Firing Recommended For Cops' Delayed Response (7/2) Police Present Findings In Ronyale White Investigation (6/10) Judge Puts Hold On Cell Phone Records In 911 Investigation (5/24) White Castle Security Tapes Subpoenaed In 911 Investigation (5/21) 911 Operator Defends Delayed Response To Call (5/16) Lawsuit Filed In Death Of Ronyale White (5/15) 911 Operators Suspended In Investigation Of Delayed Response (5/13) Report: Police Responded Late To 911 Calls (5/8)

The case of Ronyale White's murder grabbed headlines when it was reported that she had made repeated calls to 911 but was killed, allegedly by her estranged husband, before police responded to the scene.

In an exclusive report, Unit 5's Renee Ferguson revealed that one of the responding officers was allegedly not in the squad car, and the other one was checking his personal message on his home answering machine -- while they were supposed to be headed toward White's house.

In an interview with Ferguson, Ronyale White's mother spoke publicly for the first time about the murder and the police response.

"It makes me feel ill," Lorraine White said.

White said she still finds it difficult to think about the last frightened and violent moments of her daughter Ronyale's life.

"I can't imagine what my daughter went through," White said. "I can only think, visualize it in my mind, because it never goes away."

More difficult, she said, is understanding how her daughter's pleas for help on the night of May 3 went ignored by two officers who were reportedly two minutes away but took 16 minutes to arrive. By then, Ronyale had been beaten and shot twice in the head.

"Every day I close my eyes, I see her in that window," White said. "Feeling how she felt -- I don't know, but I have a horrible feeling in my gut every night I close my eyes. I don't want to see another woman go through what my daughter did."

In her first call to 911, Ronyale told an operator that her estranged husband, Louis Drexel, was in her home, and she needed police to come.

Moments later, Ronyale made another call for help. By that time, Unit 5 learned, the situation in her far-south-side home had escalated. According to an amended complaint filed Wednesday, the 911 operator "...heard Ronyale White get attacked and scream repeatedly..." and "...knew that Drexel had a gun and was threatening to shoot...White."

FeedRoom
	Evidence In The White Murder

Where were the two officers who were sent to the scene?

Court records allege that one of the responding officers was not even in his assigned car:

"(He) was engaged in recreational/social activities beyond, outside of, and/or in violation of his duties as a Chicago police officer."

The complaint alleges that the other officer "...had a history of not responding to calls where a potential for violence existed."

Unit 5 found another possible reason why the officer didn't respond to White's repeated 911 calls.

Documents allege that he was "...making phone calls of a personal nature... to his home answering machine to check his personal messages at the time... White was being attacked."

Unit 5 also learned that Chicago police have no written regulations instructing dispatchers to not hang up on a caller who's being threatened by a person with a gun. A police spokesman told Unit 5 that those regulations are being rewritten in the wake of Ronyale White's death.

The two responding officers, Ferguson reported, have been suspended, and Police Superintendent Terry Hillard recommended that they be fired.

 

Police Present Findings In Ronyale White Investigation

 

911 Operator Defends Delayed Response To Call

 

Firing Recommended For Cops' Delayed Response

 

Ebony: Dying for love: the epidemic of domestic abuse cases.

 

Lisa Madigan - Attorney General

 

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com - News

 

Chicago cop abuse

[wjcsux]

Instead of calling 911, I grab this.

[adam_az]

No, I just didn't quite understand your post, or what libertarianism has to do with the comment you replied to. I was hoping you could clarify.

[gcruse]

1) Classic lib response!

You're an idiot.

[Itzlzha]

In Warren v. DC, police didn't show up after 30 minutes of repeated assurances from a 911 operator to two women, calling to report the screams of the victim downstairs, that the police were on the way. When the screams stopped, they assumed the intruders had left and went downstairs, and were then captured and sexually tortured by the intruders for another 14 hours along with their roommate, and in their subsequent lawsuit against the DC police, they lost.

Can ANYONE explain HOW they lost the case, if the 911 tapes showed the dispatcher reassuring the victims REPEATEDLY?

and in their subsequent lawsuit against the DC police, they lost.

Ah...I now see, the jury was stacked with LOSERS!

The court said that it is a "fundamental principle of American law that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen."

If there is no "fundamental principle" to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen...what the $%#%&*^%$#%%^ a ARE WE PAYING TAXES FOR?!?!?!

If that is REALLY a Court decision that stands, then we as Citizens have a LEGAL STANDING to REFUSE to pay taxes...since there is no guarantee of service for said payment!

[mvpel]

The service the police provide is not the protection of any specific individual, saith the court, but the protection of "society in general" by taking reports of criminal activity, gathering evidence, and seeking out and apprehending suspected criminals for delivery into the court system.

One police chief was honest, at least - he said if you want individual protection, get a gun.

[Kenny500c]

"... the first of three squad cars dispatched arrived last, 17 minutes after the initial call. "

If you have ever been to a White Castle you know this allegation is BS. They would have waited in line at the Castle for at least 20 minutes for their order. It doesn't add up.

[mvpel]

So when did the other squad cars arrive?

[CHICAGOFARMER]

Instead of calling 911, I grab this.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dial 9mm instead of 911

[KneelBeforeZod]

I have a Chicago PD shirt that says "We protect and serve--when we feel like it." I got it at one of the uniform shops they use.

They have a ton of shirts like that... "School patrol: you fail 'em, we jail 'em" and public housing: "if we come up you go down"

[sistergoldenhair]

Carrying is a hot button issue with all of us Freepers in the People's Republic of Illinois

Just being able to own a gun is a concern if you live anywhere near Crook County.

[PRND21]

Sliders are horribly wonderful.

[Viking2002]

Yuck. They blew off a 911 call to munch White Castle smegburgers? They opught to be charged with poor taste as well as negligence.

[philman_36]

Donahue, newly-elected to his position, said his union wouldn't object to installing more sophisticated satellite tracking gear that can pinpoint every squad car at all times. Blakley's sources told him that in the past, the FOP opposed that, claiming it was "a big brother" intrusion.
Now THAT is the funniest thing I've read in a loooooong time!
I wonder at the technological improvements that must have come along from the days of the "paper wheel" indicators for monitoring a vehicle's speed but simply aren't used. Maybe this case is a good reason why. Kind of hard to explain away documented, irrefutable incompetence.
I knew "big brother" techniques before many others were even aware such things could be done, having been directly under the scrutiny of instruments such as the old "paper wheels".

[pax_et_bonum]

Last summer my parents' house was struck by lightning which started two fires in the attic.

My mom called 911 immediately.

She told the 911 operator/idiot what had happened and gave the address.

The operator continued to ask questions, and so my mom told her a second time that the attic was on fire and gave her address, requesting a firetruck.

The operator continued to ask other questions, infuriating my mom, who gave her the vital information for the third time, but without her previous self-control.

The operator then agreed to send a firetruck.

In the meantime, my dad went into the attic with a fire extinguisher and put out the two fires, saving the house.

[Coleus]

Looks like a good book.

[Richard Kimball]

You're correct. I think the latest stats show that most felony busts (and capturing of fugitives, occur during routine traffic stops. Most cops I know burn out pretty quickly, as police work is probably one of the most emotionally draining professions in the world. My old man was a cop for several years. When I asked him why he quit, he said he just got tired of getting up every morning knowing every person he talked to was going to be lying to him.

[Neil E. Wright]

BUMP for later read

[cyborg]

BTTT not the first time I heard stories like that :(

[cyborg]

:sigh: okay but stopping for BURGERS on the way to a 911 call? Would they like something like this to happen to their family? But then I reference rolee's post to see their stupid mentality anyway.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I have a friend who is "addicted" to White Castles. Maybe these cops are too?

Sliders Anonymous.............