911 dispatcher sued over woman's violent death

9News.com (Denver) ^ | 12/5/05 | Chip Yost

[Doctor Stochastic]

If this is a fire press 1.
If this is a break-in press 2.
If this is a joke press 3.
If this is a terrorist incident press 4.
If this is nuclear war, don't bother.

"2"

Enter the number of intruders on your followed by the # sign.

If the intruder has a knife, press 1.
If the intruder has a gun, press 2.
If the intruder isn't armed, press 3.

"2"

For shotguns press 1.
For handguns press 2.
For hunting rifles press 3.
For assault rifles press 4.
If you cannot tell, press 0 for the help line on firearm identification.

........

[manglor]

It will go nowhere.

Warren vs District of Columbia.

Government is not responsible for protecting you as an individual, but society as a whole.

[Triggerhippie]

More anti-cop garbage...

I guess we'll wait for YOU to defend everyone from criminals.

[coloradan]

Cops in Denver are only too happy to call people who would defend themselves from criminals, criminals themselves. Aurora has copied many of Denver's anti-gun laws themselves, so that they can do the very same thing.

[Tennessee_Bob]

I love our 911 system here in East Tennessee.

We were run off the road a couple weeks ago by a drunk driver. We got back on the road behind him and called 911. We were connected to the Anderson County Sheriff's department - explained where we were and which way we were going. They dispatched a vehicle and handed us off to the Oliver Springs PD. They dispatched a vehicle as well and asked us to stay on the line while they were routing the intercepts in. We did so, and within about 5 minutes, there were two OSPD cruisers and an Anderson County Sheriff's cruiser coming in behind us with lights on - just as the guy about ran another vehicle off the road. Total time from call to intercept was about 7 minutes.

[doc30]

Based on this transcript, there is an important lesson if you ever call 911. Do not try to downgrade the seriousness of the call. Make it sound urgent. The dispatcher asked if they were fighting. Don't give the perpetrator the benefit of the doubt. Tell the dipatcher emphatically 'yes.' Don't be wishy-washy about it, otherwise, why are you calling 911?

[TalonDJ]

For shotguns press 1.
For handguns press 2.
For hunting rifles press 3.
For assault rifles press 4.
If you cannot tell, press 0 for the help line on firearm identification.
If you have already been shot please remain on the line for the next available operator

........

Please remain on the line and your call will be answered in the order received.

........


Thank you for holding.
All our operators are busy at this time.
Your call is important to us.
Please remain on the line and your call will be answered in the order received.

........

[md2576]

the city has argued that there is "no evidence" that Price's actions were "anything more than simple negligence."

Many get sued and lose for their negligence all the time. Not a very good argument.

[MeanWestTexan]

"Many get sued and lose for their negligence all the time. Not a very good argument."

Actually, it's an excellent argument for a government agency. They have "govenmental immunity," and have to been shown to be really, really, intentionally reckless to lose.

[TNCMAXQ]

"Gun control groups lie, women die!"

[Triggerhippie]

I guess it wasn't that long ago (less than a year) that Denver PD shot and killed a guy while serving a high risk warrant.

Unfortunately, they got the address wrong. I know someone got sued for that.

They need to adopt FDLE (Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement) standards nationwide. Our academies are long, crammed w/ info, and followed by an equally rigorous exam. Then you go to whatever agency hires you for OJT.

[Mad Dawg]

Well, police or not there's no question this dispatcher was a horse's behind. This is really a remarkably awful transcript.

Looking at this and recalling similar things in the passt, I get the sense that some people have a genetic predisposition to be smug, controlling SOBs and they live all the way up to their potential.

[narby]

I have a bit of a problem with how 911 systems are handled. My father-in-law died this summer, and when my mother-in-law called 911 they spent all kinds of time trying to coach her into moving and resuscitating him. The problem is she was physically incapable of doing it and, and told the 911 operator, who still refused to send an ambulance until she was convinced that my M-I-L was telling the truth.

I could understand it if they dispatched the ambulance, and THEN tried to coach a resuscitation. But instead they argued on the phone while my father-in-law died of heart congestion. Basically he drowned.

I'd bet money that they were trying to save money by not dispatching an ambulance right off, hoping they wouldn't need to.

[jordan8]

The dispatcher reaction is not all that outrageous given the information the caller is giving her. Her attitude is also not that bad. I've called 911 or the non-emergency police line on many occasions and most of the time the dispatchers were far more surly than this one.