(Milwaukee Mayor and Dem Gov candidate) Barrett Armed Robbery Victims: 911 didn't answer.

WTMJ-4 ^ | 11/10/2010 | Heather Shannon

[sbMKE]

Barrett Armed Robbery Victims: 911 Call Took Too Long to Answer By Heather Shannon

MILWAUKEE--Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's son and six of his friends were robbed at gunpoint Saturday night at Wick Field by two suspects, one of which had a gun.

Angela "Martina" Ibanez Baldor was one of the teens there with the mayor's son. She called 911 several times, but no one picked up her call for help.

"They never picked up and that really scared me," she said. "Because we were in the middle of a park and we had just been held up and 911 wasn't answering."

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department confirms a call from Ibanez Baldor's cell phone came in at 11:20. It rang for over a minute before she hung up. She called back again, and again it rang for over a minute. She then called back a third time, let it ring for one minute and 40 seconds, and then hung up.

A Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said that the dispatchers did call her back, but only got voicemail. She confirmed it took in total about seven minutes. Ibanez Baldor never spoke to anyone. The spokeswoman said it was a very busy night. 911 operators processed 214 calls between 11 and midnight, the hour in which the teens were trying to reach dispatchers. They would not say how many dispatchers were working at the time.

Another victim, who was with Ibanez Baldor, did eventually get through to 911 dispatchers.

Earlier this year, Today's TMJ4 got another complaint about slow 911 times. Reporter Heather Shannon interviewed a viewer who waited eight minutes to get through to 911 after her elderly aunt fell and broke her hip. Sheriff David Clarke spoke with Shannon at the time, saying: "I'm not making excuses. When you need emergency help, seconds matter, minutes can seem like hours, I get that."

Clarke said 92 percent of calls are answered within 20 seconds. But that's little consolation for the scared victims.

"It was just really ridiculous," Ibanez Baldor said.

The Sheriff's Department said people have to wait so long because they hang up and call back, pushing them to the end of the line. They said the best way to get through, is to stay on the line and not hang up.

[sbMKE]

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (former Dem Congressman) was Barack Obama's handpicked candidate for Wisconsin Governor. He lost to conservative Scott Walker.

Barrett was severely injured in a beating at Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis (Milwaukee) a little over a year ago.

This time around, while his son was being robbed at gunpoint, friends were unable to get 911 operators to pick up.

Even more telling - the people who committed the robbery are being described only as "two men," days after they were arrested.

Hard to figure how they'll bend the narrative to make excuses again for "poor and economically disadvantaged" Milwaukeeans once again being forced to attack the Mayor and his family to get by.

[WOBBLY BOB]

I carry a gun because I can’t carry a cop.

[sbMKE]

7 Minutes, no reply:

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/107008893.html?video=pop&t=a&bctid=CLIP_ID_387702

[stefanbatory]

when seconds count, 911 only takes minutes to contact...

[WOBBLY BOB]

I think a mandatory union break takes longer than 7 minutes.

[blackdog]

Anticipated budget cuts have lowered morale among public employees. The 911 operators were busy scheduling their stress counseling sessions, needed to cope with the economic hardship of their guaranteed jobs taking a furlow day.

[blackdog]

FWIW, Don’t travel with the Barretts’. Dad got his jaw broke and wrist fractured the last time he took a stroll in public. They are obviously not good on point.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (former Dem Congressman) was Barack Obama's handpicked candidate for Wisconsin Governor. He lost to conservative Scott Walker.

I dunno, I lived in Wisconsin for ~ 40 years and grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs. I haven't lived there in a long time but I was watching this race closely (from afar) and I'd have to say "handpicked" doesn't quite cover it. It seems to me that Barrett had to be dragged into the race (by Obama and the DNC folks). It was not something he wanted to do, and his lackluster campaign kinda proved that. What will be interesting is the payoff, which was probably mentioned to Barrett by Obama. Maybe a longer than usual appointment at the Kennedy School of Government, where eminent failures like Tom Loftus have "taught" in the past.

Whatever it is, if you think of being in Barrett's position when he committed (somewhat halfheartedly) to the campaign, the last thing a person in his position wants to do it fall on his sword for the party in a very remotely winnable race. I mean, being Mayor of Brewtown is the wages of some higher successive position. You don't labor there to get knocked out in a long shot campaign like the one he just put in. So, let's see what his consolation prize is.

[vetvetdoug]

Music to my ears. All gun control Democrats need to robbed at gunpoint. This is even sweeter because the government run 911 didn’t answer.

[Last Dakotan]

the people who committed the robbery are being described only as "two men," days after they were arrested.

You know, there is a risk in letting people know just how wild the Amish get...

[kearnyirish2]

Good, we just won over seven concealed carry supporters.

[Svartalfiar]

haha, yea first thing I thought of was that they should’ve brought a cop with them :)

[SIDENET]

What are these libs bitching about?

It's just a little wealth redistribution.

Just say "hope" and "change" a lot, and it will be all better.

[cycjec]

Dial 911 and Die. The classic book. It took me years
to realize that some deluded souls really believe the
line “the police will protect you”