It is? Here Dispatch is not police, but also fire and rescue.
Of course, any stick will do to beat a dog with, and folks who like to stomp on the police will do so with or without facts. But still I'd like some clarification in this particular case.
Dispatcher: Aurora 911 is this an emergency?
Chauvin: I believe it is...
Dispatcher: What's going on?
Chauvin: This black guy jumps into this Asian lady's car, like she was squealing away from him. And then he parked it in the parking lot still (sic). He's still in the car with her.
The operator wasn't convinced it was an emergency. After getting some details, the dispatcher asks Chauvin the following questions:
Dispatcher: Are they yelling and screaming at each other? Are they talking? Are they fighting?
Chauvin: I, I think he's just telling her what to do.
Dispatcher: OK, so they're taking off right now?
Chauvin: Yeah.
Dispatcher: Which way are they leaving?
Chauvin: They are heading out on to Hampden it looks like.
Dispatcher: OK, if they come back in the lot give us a call and let us know, OK?
That was less than 50 seconds into the call. Chauvin was baffled that the operator was trying to end the call.
"I still can't believe that she didn't believe me that it was an emergency," Chauvin said after listening to the recording for the first time in years.
Realizing the 911 dispatcher was trying to end the call, Chauvin tried to press on - tried to convince her to send police.
Here are more outtakes from his call:
Chauvin: OK, would you like the car description?
Dispatcher: Well, they're - they're really not, I mean they're not fighting, they're not yelling, they're, they're nothing.
Chauvin: He jumped through her window while she was squealing away.
Dispatcher: OK, well you think she should be fighting or something. I mean, I can have the officers check the area, but that's about - I mean she would be fighting or screaming or something if she needed help.
Later the dispatcher says this:
Dispatcher: . they may have just been playing around.
Chauvin starts to say he doesn't think so, at which point the dispatcher appears to cut him off and ends the call by telling him that she'll have someone check the area.
But according to DuVall and her attorneys, crucial minutes passed and police didn't come. Meanwhile, the car - with the man and woman inside - drove off.
A woman from the salon saw Nguyen drive off - and saw the man inside the car. She believed the man was Nguyen's ex-fiance, Omar Green.
When police didn't respond to Chauvin's emergency call - the worried friend called Le Thu's mother, Susan DuVall.
DuVall again called 911. The same 911 dispatcher, Jeanette Price, answered the call.
Here are some outtakes from DuVall's call:
DuVall: I'm calling to report that my daughter has been car-jacked by her ex-fiance in the car.
DuVall went on to tell the dispatcher about previous abuse and a restraining order. The dispatcher still didn't sound convinced it was an emergency.
Dispatcher: I talked to people there. She was not fighting. She was not screaming. She did not ask for help, nothing.
DuVall: Right, we don't know whether he has a weapon or what.
Dispatcher: Is he known to carry a weapon?
DuVall: I don't know him as to, no, I don't. I just know, you know, threatening things that he's trying to do to her.
Dispatcher: I mean, (because) a lot of times they end up making back up together - they end up making up.
DuVall: Right, well that's not this case...
Dispatcher: OK, well we don't know because we haven't talked to her
Some places they are police, I don't know about this one in particular. She's government, anyway. Government agents, generally, are held to a different standard than us peasants.