did the Cleveland 911 dispatcher sound uninterested / unsympathetic?

[Liberal_in_LA]

on the call from Amanda Berry?

[elleng]

1. Sounded confused, to me.

Not the usual 911 call. NOT unsympathetic, imo.

[freshwest]

110. Same here. Trying to get the data as soon as possible. Not playing for effect like teevee.

I suppose on a dramatic show, there would have been a sharp intake of breath and mutual shouting. That's not what 911 operators are paid to do.

[elleng]

111. Right, exactly,

looking for necessary facts.

[pnwmom]

118. But apparently the dispatcher was supposed to keep her on the line.

That was the surprising part to me -- that the dispatcher ended the call.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/city_safety_director_marty_fla.html#incart_river

"While the call-taker complied with policies and procedures which enabled a very fast response by police, we have noted some concerns which will be the focus of our review, including the call-taker's failure to remain on the line with Ms. Berry until police arrived on the scene."

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. 911 operators are trained to not get emotionally evolved, to deal with the facts,

and attempt to decipher what is going on so a clear message can be relayed. I didn't hear anything except the dispatcher doing the job.

[Junkdrawer]

6. Very professional. Stopped the "here's my story" talk and immediately asked for and got an address.

Well done.

[pnwmom]

77. But shouldn't she have stayed on the line with her, since the guy could have come back any time?

[msanthrope]

86. And if the guy found her on the phone? nt

[pnwmom]

88. He would have found her on the phone standing next to two neighbors,

and possibly the police, too.

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. If they got emotionally involved in every call, I don't think they'd be 911 operators very long.

The stress of hearing the worst of the worst would get to be too much to bear.

[pnwmom]

79. But this 911 operator treated this as a lower priority call,

saying at first that a car would come when it was open, and telling the woman to get off the phone.

It was only after the woman didn't hang up, and kept pushing, and said she couldn't wait that long because the man was coming back, that the operator started to take this as a priority.

[ellisonz]

108. I would suspect the operator was looking at a computer dispatch system at the same time.

I agree though they should have asked Amanda if she wanted them to stay on the line. I think once they realized the situation they went into excitement mode.

- One of my old roommates was an EMT dispatcher and the impression I was had was that they were understaffed and plugged into the computer.

[ellisonz]

114. They're going to review both dispatch calls

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/city_safety_director_marty_fla.html#incart_river

[jehop61]

28. k&r

[bigwillq]

39. I agree.

Good post.

[Corgigal]

62. I worked 911 for 8 years

I want the location, do you need police or ambulance ? Short background and if it's an in progress call. I would have stay online with her until we got a unit there. She did fine, she even got the name of the guy they arrested on the recording.

I took some hard calls, and you wouldn't know from my voice that I felt a damn thing. My job is to control the information, and get help to you as fast as possible. Not to mention, callers want me to make decisions for them. I have to stay calm, so you stay calm and follow instructions.

[Raine1967]

64. +1

May I ask you this?

Would you consider this call from Amanda Berry an 'in progress' call?

[Junkdrawer]

65. Imagine your budget was cut and operator staff was cut, say, 25% to 50%

How would that have changed your job? Perhaps staying on the line would be seen as a luxury?

[Corgigal]

69. Depends on the agency

back in my time, with in-progress calls I have to stay online. Too much can happen in a few mins, I actually was online with a woman once who was having a domestic with her husband. He was outside and she was inside, stayed online and he broke inside the house. He shot her dead while she was on the phone with me. Chased her outside and killed her on the driveway. We found him dead, a little later, sitting in his vehicle located at a park.

Again, depends on the agency and the dispatcher. I'm not only worried about who is calling me, I also worried about my units that will be arriving. I need to give them all the present information, as I received it.

[pnwmom]

81. She did fine? Really? Even though she told the woman to hang up

and that she'd send a car when it was open?

It was only because the woman refused to hang up and reiterated that she needed help right away that the operator started treating this as a priority.

[Corgigal]

123. Was she the only person working 911?

Were other calls coming in? Does she have to go voice on the radio to pull a unit to answer the call? I would have to see how the room is layed out. The victim wasn't alone at that time, with access to a phone.

Hard to say because I don't know how busy that 911 system is, or how many people are on shift.

[nadinbrzezinski]

92. yup

[pnwmom]

80. She told the woman to hang up and that a car would come when it was open.

That wasn't doing a very good job.

It was only because the woman disregarded her instructions, and didn't hang up, and reiterated the seriousness of her position, that the operator started treating this situation as a higher priority.

[ScreamingMeemie]

90. ...and the car showed up two minutes later. And the operator got the name of the abductor, the

correct address of where the call was coming from , and a description of the perp. Sorry, but a job well done.

[pnwmom]

100. But it very well might have been a different car at a different time,

if Amanda hadn't stayed on the phone AFTER the dispatcher told her to hang up, and reiterated how urgent her situation was. And the dispatcher didn't even ask the name of the kidnapper till AFTER she'd already told Amanda to hang up.

[LisaL]

3. Not to me.

[freshwest]

109. +1

[oregonjen]

4. Why didn't the dispatcher keep Amanda on the line?

Why disconnect the phone call when Amanda was obviously very distraught?

[anneboleyn]

22. I thought the same. At first she said she'd send a car once one was "open"!

Clearly not recognizing the extremely dangerous nature of the situation. Strange indeed for a 911 operator not to appreciate the situation and at least keep the girl on the line until police arrived.

[pnwmom]

82. Thank goodness Amanda persisted! I agree that wasn't a good response of the operator.n/t

[Beaverhausen]

23. very true. I've heard lots of these calls where the dispatcher keeps the caller on line until the...

police arrive. I would think that should be standard.

[Arkansas Granny]

40. That puzzles me, too. I would have thought the dispatcher

would want to stay maintain contact after learning that the caller was a kidnap victim.

[Politicalboi]

5. I would think every call is suspicious

At first. And saying your a kidnapped girl may be looked at as a hoax. Good thing the cops got there in time, and were able to catch all 3 pieces of shit.

[pokerfan]

7. Nope

Just professional.

[KarenS]

8. not sure exactly,,,,

I think she didn't just know the name "Amanda Berry".

She didn't sound like it was a priority to her.

Like I said I'm not sure what it sounded like but this recording should be used as a 'training' tool for future 911 dispatchers.

[LisaL]

11. There was at least one hoax involving a claim that Amanda Berry was dead and buried

in the area. Even if dispatcher knew who Amanda Berry was, I am not sure she had a way of knowning that this was in fact the Amanda Berry.
She did her job, she got the police there. That's what counts.

[Blue_Tires]

24. Yeah, I'm thinking she's had her share of pranks and cranks

[OhioChick]

19. Local news stated

That the 911 operator was younger and the name "Amanda Berry" didn't really resonate with them.

[magellan]

38. That makes sense

If they were young or new to the area it's perfectly reasonable that they wouldn't know who Amanda Berry was or that she'd been missing for so long.

[liberalhistorian]

102. Sorry, but I have trouble buying that.

I grew up in Cleveland and lived in the area until I was over forty; moved to another state several years ago. The Amanda Berry/Gina DeJesus disappearances were HUGE stories in the area, and for years afterwards. There were vigils every year for them and continual articles about them. There is no way those in the area would not know the name, and especially if you were in law enforcement in any capacity. There is NO excuse for this. 911 operators are not supposed to use what they personally think about things, they are supposed to, by policy, believe the caller and give immediate assistance regardless of what they personally think. There have been too many instances of operators not believing people and not doing their fucking job, going against policy, and the person desperate for help being killed or injured.

I remember one case where a small child kept calling in about his mother, who'd collapsed and was unresponsive. He was doing what she'd taught him to do when things like that happened, call 911. But the idiot operator kept literally yelling at him to "quit playing around, we're going to get you in trouble" and refused to listen to him, hanging up on him each time. It was only when she got sick of his "pranks" and decided to send the police to the house to "teach him a lesson" as she put it, that they discovered the situation. By that time, the mother was critical and almost didn't make it. Lucky for that bitch of an operator that the mother DID make it, or she could have faced criminal charges. At least she was fired and couldn't cause any further damage.

I wanted to scream while listening to this 911 call; after all she'd been through the burden was on HER because this dipshit operator wouldn't do her fucking job.

[rightsideout]

9. OK, so you were kidnapped. Police are on their way. Bye.

[fleur-de-lisa]

13. Exactly . . .

Aren't they supposed to keep the caller on the line? What if the kidnapper suddenly returned home? The person who took the call should be fired, or at least sent for remedial training.

[chillfactor]

17. it is easy to be a Monday night quarterback.....

especially after the fact.....but fire the dispatcher? i don't think so.....

[fleur-de-lisa]

99. It is also easy to write something completely irrational . . .

as you have clearly proven. The first responsibility of the dispatcher is to offer immediate support to anyone calling for help and KEEP SAID POTENTIAL VICTIM ON THE LINE, as Cleveland Police have now confirmed as their stated policy in such cases. Go peddle derp somewhere else. BLOCKED!

[anneboleyn]

18. I thought the same. She also said when a squad car is open, one will be sent

And the girl had to reiterate that this was an emergency situation and that she was in danger. The operator's handling of a very dangerous situation was very poor in my opinion. No sense of urgency (not "emotion," just recognition that the girl is in a dangerous situation and needs help a.s.a.p.) and hanging up before the police arrived. Very poor form.

[Junkdrawer]

25. Kinda depends on call volume, doesn't it?

Couple of calls a night per operator - you're right

Hundreds of calls a night per operator - important to get off the line once the cops are on the way and be ready for the next call.

[anneboleyn]

33. She did not confirm that police were en route before hanging up.

[LisaL]

42. Yes she did.

[Raine1967]

44. That's right.

the operator said they would get a car once one was freed up -- Thankfully it was only a few moments.

Thankfully.

I don't think this was responsible at all. This makes me nervous about what would happen if I ever have to call 911 for my own personal safety.

I told my story below, I'll not repeat it again.

[LisaL]

48. So what is the operator supposed to send over there if there is no free car?

I think sending a car as soon as one frees up is a standard procedure.

[Raine1967]

49. That's why I stated the operator should have stayed on the line. n/t

[magical thyme]

54. staying on the line won't get a car there faster

But it could have gotten the victim killed if the kidnapper returned and caught her on the phone, no?

[Raine1967]

58. I don't know. I tend to think not, and here's why:

She was already outside of the house where she was being held captive. At a certain point. I guess I feel like she should not have been left alone -- at all.

Ramsey was there, but 911 was her lifeline to being rescued from the hell of her captivity. She didn't know Ramsey, as much of a hero I think he is -- he was still a stranger. 911 was the lifeline of trust she needed for help.

I hope that makes sense.

[magical thyme]

68. but what you personally feel and what is the reality of the job are not the same

The dispatcher knew the victim was afraid and *in imminent danger.* The dispatcher's first priority was to get the police there as quickly as possible. She got them there in 2 minutes.

You don't know if staying on the phone talking to the victim would have slowed down the dispatcher's ability to find the closest available cops. It seems likely that trying to multitask like that -- on the phone with victim while simultaneously locating and contacting appropriate police -- would be problematic at the least. It opens the door to massive errors and failure to accomplish the top priority of getting the closest there asap.

There were very possibly other emergencies going on at the same time. If the dispatcher stayed on the phone for 2 minutes while other calls sat holding, somebody's house could have been burning down in the time, somebody getting beaten up could have been beaten for an additional 2 minutes, etc. You just don't know.

Likewise, when I work in the lab, I don't necessarily get a single ED at a time and don't have the luxury of focusing on a single patient at a time. Oftentimes they come in groups. There are times when the ED is filled and they are literally stacking them in the aisles. In front of patients, we are quick and calm. Behind the scenes, we are running and juggling like mad.

It is very easy to second guess other people's actions after the fact. Especially when you don't, you know, actually do the job or have a clue what goes on behind the scenes.

[pnwmom]

89. The dispatcher got them there faster BECAUSE the woman didn't hang up as directed

after the dispatcher said she'd send a car when it was open. The woman instead reiterated how serious the situation is, causing the dispatcher to make the call a higher priority.

We don't know how long it would have taken to get a car then if the woman had hung up when first directed.

[LisaL]

104. Dispatcher never directed the woman to hang up.

That's just false.

[pnwmom]

120. You're right that she didn't at first. She just kept interrupting

Amanda by saying "tell the police." I really did think I heard her say to hang up -- probably because of the tone of the way she said "tell the police." It sounded like she was trying to end the call.

Then Amanda said she couldn't wait for an "open" car -- she needed help NOW. And then all of a sudden the dispatcher seemed to take her more seriously, and started asking for details about the man's name, clothing, etc.

But at the end, the dispatcher DID end the call, and she wasn't supposed to.

[Blue Diadem]

130. Talk to the police when they get there. Talk to the police when they get there.

I thought I'd heard hangup too and you're right, it has to do with dispatch repeating "talk to the police when they get there" numerous times. That to me is an indication to end the call, no other reason for her to keep repeating it. At the end her tone was awful, I told you they are on their way. Imagine being held captive for 10 yrs and calling for help and hearing that tone.

What if the kidnapper had come back? What if he'd been armed? There would have been no way for the dispatcher to notify the unit that was responding.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t1#/video/bestoftv/2013/05/07/pmt-sot-amanda-berry-911-call.cnn

[pnwmom]

87. Yes, it could have, and it did, actually.

The 911 operator first told the woman to hang up and that a car would come when it was open. If the woman had hung up then, she would have had to wait until that car arrived. But she persisted and reiterated how urgent her situation was, causing the 911 operator to make this call a higher priority.

So the woman's refusal to hang up as first directed led to help arriving more quickly.

[liberalhistorian]

103. Keeping the caller on the line until the police

arrived absolutely is standard 911 procedure in every place I can think of and more. The dismissiveness of this dipshit operator is truly infuriating.

[pnwmom]

85. Cars can be rerouted from less serious situations. There's no indication

that this operator realized how serious and emergent this situation was, until the woman refused to hang up and kept pressing.

[LisaL]

105. Dispatcher didn't order woman to hang up.

And the car was dispatched within 18 seconds.

[pnwmom]

119. The dispatcher ended the call instead of keeping her on the line.

And it wasn't 18 seconds, it was 1 minute and 18 seconds. Fortunately, they still got there very quickly. But my question is if Amanda hadn't pressed, would there have been more of a delay while they waited for a car to be "open"? Did they move the call up the priority list after Amanda kept pressing? Every time Amanda tried to say something, the dispatcher said, "tell the police" -- which sounded pretty dismissive to me.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/city_safety_director_marty_fla.html#incart_river

"While the call-taker complied with policies and procedures which enabled a very fast response by police, we have noted some concerns which will be the focus of our review, including the call-taker's failure to remain on the line with Ms. Berry until police arrived on the scene.

"Please be assured that this matter will be investigated, and if necessary, appropriate corrective action taken."

Flask noted that the dispatcher took the call, created an event and sent it to the channel dispatcher in less than 90 seconds.

"Within one minute and 18 seconds from the time that the call-taker answered the call our dispatcher was broadcasting the assignment to available police units," Flask said. "As a result of the call-taker's actions, police were dispatched and on scene in less than two minutes."

[ecstatic]

135. "Hey, I need an officer to leave traffic ticket duty/drug bust duty/prostitution sting duty

and respond to an actual emergency!" Thank God that POS didn't return with guns blazing!

[pnwmom]

78. But she had put this call into low priority -- that's why she FIRST said a car would come

when it was open -- and told the woman to hang up.

It was only because the woman stayed on the line and kept pushing that the 911 lady woke up and gave this call priority.

[LisaL]

106. No, he didn't tell the woman to hang up.

And the car was dispatched within 18 seconds and arrived within 2 minutes. That is not a low priority call.

[pnwmom]

84. No. It was still an error not to make sure this wasn't a high risk ongoing situation

before she told the woman to hang up.

Instead, she told her she would send a car when it was open and to hang up. Thankfully, the woman persisted.

[wickerwoman]

113. She didn't tell the woman to hang up.

She said "talk to the police when they get there".

Then she asked for more relevant information "Who's the guy? What race is he? What was he wearing?"

There are awkward pauses where the operator was clearly multitasking and sending out the car, but she never told the girl to hang up.

It's not the most effective communication ever, but it's a high pressure situation talking to someone who is clearly in panic mode and trying to do something else at the same time. "I'll send the next car that's open" could be interpreted as "I'll send the next car I can" which was 18 seconds later which is pretty good. It doesn't necessarily mean she's treating it as a low priority call.

[pnwmom]

115. I heard the dispatcher say "thank you" in a dismissive way and then, over and over,

interrupt Amanda to say, "talk to the police when they get there."

That sounded to me (and probably to Amanda) as if the dispatcher was trying to get Amanda to shut up.

It was only after the dispatcher said she'd send the car when it was open that Amanda said NO -- send the police NOW!

And after that the dispatcher asked who who the guy was, etc.

[wickerwoman]

116. I agree that it sounded dismissive to Amanda,

but I'm suggesting that as she was in a panicked state, she may have misinterpreted the dispatcher's silences (as she was concentrating on dispatching the car) for not treating the call as a priority.

And she was trying to get Amanda to not tell her the whole story so she could get the car dispatched and ask for the most important information- where do you live? where are you now? what's the guys name? etc.

And as I said before "I'll send the next car that's open" isn't the best way to phrase it, but for the operator that could have meant "I'm sending the next car I can in about 20 seconds" while Amanda clearly interpreted it "you're going on a wait list and we'll get there when we get there". She obviously was in distress and may have misinterpreted what the dispatcher meant.

The point is she never told Amanda to hang up but she wasn't clearly communicating what she did mean either. It's a tough job though, the dispatcher wasn't that experienced and at the end of the day the cops got there within 2 minutes and the girls were saved. So what's the point of dragging the dispatcher over the coals and engaging in a lot of armchair quarterbacking?

[pnwmom]

117. I'm not dragging anybody over the coals except the evil men who (allegedly) did this.

But I think the dispatcher should have specifically told Amanda to NOT hang up -- and she never did. And at the very end, didn't the dispatcher end the call before the police arrived?

[fleur-de-lisa]

101. I agree Anne . . .

I can't help but wonder if budgetary cuts to local law enforcement played a part in this . . . lack of proper training? (Thanks GOP assholes!) I don't know, and even if that is the case, it's no excuse for the poor performance of the dispatcher.

I heard on the news tonight, CNN I think, if you can believe anything they report, that the dispatcher's response is under review. Apparently it is not the policy of the CPD to disconnect anyone making an urgent call for assistance.

Very cool name, by the way. Anne Boleyn is one of my favorite historical characters. She was very wrongly maligned, in my opinion, by that brute Henry VIII and his contemporaries.

Apparently I have some ancestors from the UK, way way back, that were known as 'Bolins'. They later emigrated to America. Doubtful that I am related to Anne Boleyn by blood . . . all of my ancestors in that line were pretty common and definitely poor.

[anneboleyn]

36. Exactly -- a kidnapping ffs. Very, very dangerous situation.

[Poll_Blind]

112. ^ This. nt

PB

[eissa]

12. I thought so when I first heard it

Professional? Yes, got all the details, did their job. But didn't sound very empathetic to me. In fact, a little annoyed towards the end. I guess they have to be, and maybe they were following guidelines. But this girl sounded scared, and I'm sure she wanted to hear a supportive voice staying on the line with her to assure her everything would be fine until the police arrived.

[gvstn]

32. This exactly.

[chillfactor]

14. I do not believe that the dispatcher was familiar with the name Amanda Berry....

it has been 10 years after all.....the dispatcher did send the police to the address....so she did her job...

but, I am willing to bet, once the dispatcher found out who Amanda Berry really was, she must have been flabbergasted....i would have been....

[Posteritatis]

15. Making a spectacle of things by broadcasting 911 calls bugs me more than the dispatchers' tones. nt

[RobinA]

95. This

It just adds to the Monday morning blame game that goes on any time anything happens. So far in this case the police have been at fault for not busting the guy's door down and the 911 operator is at fault for getting the police there using the wrong tone of voice.

[Posteritatis]

122. I've been noticing it more and more in the last year

Seems that anytime something involves a 911 call and is lurid or ridiculous enough to make the news, everyone trips over themselves to broadcast the call either for the sake of the usual criminal voyeurism or specifically to humiliate the caller. And then you get things like this thread, where someone's doing the "I would've done things differently in their shoes so I'm gonna castigate them for not being me" schtick.

Stuff like that isn't a spectator sport. Well, I supposed it is these days, but I don't have to like that.

[Whisp]

16. No, they have to keep their cool and get the details. n/t

[Raine1967]

20. They should NOT have hung up with her until after LEO arrived.

That part bothered me. It really did -- especially after they said we'll send someone out when we have a free squad car. That was NOT cool.

In talking with Charles Ramsey they actually said "you want us to call you back?" I was like WTF? A guy is calling to tell 911 that a woman claiming to be a kidnap victim is with him and they want him to call back?

If a woman says she was kidnapped and she is afraid of her captor coming back, I would go with *DON'T HANG UP*

I've called 911 a few times, (unfortunately) most recently for an incident on our block -- and 911 told me I could hang up after they confirmed that police were en route. 911 told me that they already recieved a call about this incident. I was reporting a possible DV situation that didn't involve me. I thought it was handled really well.

When I was a teen I had a much more personal situation. I had to call 911 on my parents. For reasons I don;t want to go into details about, I could not make an outgoing call. Fortunately, incoming calls could still happen -- My mom's friend happened to call when crap was going down... and I asked her to call the police. She called 911, made the report and 911 (I found this out later -- ) and they told her to call me back and keep me on the line to make sure I was still alive. This is good 911 procedure.

hanging up on a person saying they've been kidnapped and escaped and are worried about the kidnapper coming back is just stupid, and dangerous.

I wouldn't say uninterested, I would say irresponsible. This could have gone very very badly for Amanda Berry.

[anneboleyn]

27. Exactly. Not "just doing her job." She was dangerously dismissive of the girl

[laundry_queen]

96. That was my thought the very first time I heard the call.

I found the call disturbing, and I thought that the 911 operator was very unsympathetic.

[Junkdrawer]

31. See post #25. It all depends on call volume....

With municipal gov'ts feeling the unbelievably tight budget squeeze, I'm betting they're way higher than they should be.

[anneboleyn]

35. This was a KIDNAPPING. Rather high priority, one would think.

[Junkdrawer]

37. More than a heart attack? More than a fire? More than a shooting....

Again: call volume

[Raine1967]

47. Junkdrawer,

how are we to know that her kidnapper wouldn't return with a gun? I know that this is speculation on my part but listening to that call, Amanda Berry was afraid he would return soon.

911 should have stayed on the phone with her. I truly believe that.

[Junkdrawer]

52. And what could the 911 operator do if they did?

That's why I praised the operators interruption to get an address. First available squad car is probably the best the 911 operator could do.

Medical triage in an emergency and doctor's office care set two very different standards. Call volume + municipal budgets.

[LisaL]

55. I dunno.

Unless people want the operator to drop the call and run over there him or herself, the best he/she can do is to send a first available car.

[Raine1967]

56. The call could have

provided information, god forbid -- if things went bad.

I'm not disputing getting the address -- they should NOT have hung up.

[Raine1967]

41. I'm sorry, I'm not buying this.

No offense to you but the idea that a person calling 911 under this situation needs to bring down the volume is strange.

I do agree that about the budgets and funding, but I still feel like this 911 needed to stay on the line with Ms. Berry. HEr kidnapper could have come back at any moment.

Call volume isn't a good enough reason -- this is 911 -- this is the front-line to saving lives.

[Junkdrawer]

45. 911 call volumes and the bad results of a too high volume....

is a well known political issue around where I live.

And local police budget issues are indeed life or death issues. We're cutting to the bone and beyond - new territory.

[Raine1967]

53. I'll be honest -- I'm not sure why the call volume is such a point.

They are 911 operators. This is what they do.

My point is that they should have kept her on the line just as I would assume they do with domestic violence calls. This wasn't reporting a fire. This wasn't reporting a robbery.

This was an active situation. This woman was still in danger.

[Junkdrawer]

57. Local news here did a report when the issue was hot....

I was surprised to see how many life-or-death emergencies 911 handles a night.

Worst case scenario: "This is 911. please hold."..... And yes it can happen.

[tblue37]

72. She doesn't mean volume in how loud the call was, but volume in the NUMBER of calls

the dispatcher had to answer at the time.

[Raine1967]

74. Thank you. I appreciate that.

I misunderstood.

That makes sense to me.

[tblue37]

83. Sometimes a quick read causes a misunderstanding of a point. It happens to all of us. nt

[LeftInTX]

21. They often tend to sound that way

[Warpy]

26. I'm sure the original thought was that it was a crank call

and you know 911 operators have to put up with a lot of those. By the end of the call, Berry was taken seriously and that is what counts.

[anneboleyn]

30. Why did the operator hang up then, before even verifying LE was en route?

[Warpy]

43. Probably because it was during peak hours

and her switchboard was lit up like an Xmas tree with other calls.

This wasn't a life or death emergency. The thugs weren't home and no one was in danger of imminent demise.

The operator acted correctly, IMO.

[ZRT2209]

29. seemed almost hostile to her

[Polly Hennessey]

34. 911

I agree. She seemed not to understand the gravity of the situation. She did say she would send a car once one was available. I know they are not supposed to be emotional but something was off. I sensed it the first time I heard the call. The girl was distraught and told the operator that she was Amanda, had been kidnapped and had been in the news. Just glad it all worked out.

[Cleita]

46. I used to take emergency calls when I was an "O" operator for Ma Bell.

We did connect to the proper agency, in this case the police, and she did what she was supposed to do. They get panicky calls every day so they have to be calm and dispassionate. We were required to stay on the line with the caller and the dispatcher and listen to what was said and write a report about the call in case of backlash. At times, things happened too fast and the right responders could not get to a scene in time to avert a tragedy. In this case because there was no car crash or fire, it at first didn't seem like that dire of an emergency until the caller insisted and the dispatcher did listen to her and send a car right away, which was reported to have arrived in two minutes, a pretty good response.

[Raine1967]

61. Thank you for saying this.

I especially appreciated that you needed to stay on the line.

My point through out this entire thread was that I wished 911 had stayed on the line with Amanda Berry.

[magical thyme]

71. being an 'O' operator and being a 911 dispatcher are not the same job.

Perhaps, since you have such a deep understanding of emergency work, you should offer yourself as a consultant to the obviously incompetent 911 dispatcher training world.

They obviously are completely insensitive to the needs of emergency callers, not to mention that they have no understanding of their priorities.

[Raine1967]

73. Snark noted -- thanks for your help.

And thank you for making such wonderful assumption.

Jeebus.

[magical thyme]

75. jeebus yourself. You are criticizing a job done by somebody else

You have yet to mention your qualifications for criticizing the job that dispatcher did. Only that, in your opinion, she was insufficiently compassionate and should have stayed on the line.

Do you know what her job requirements are? Do you know how many emergency calls her station takes in an hour or a day? How many calls she takes in a given hour or 15 minutes? Do you know if she is even *allowed* to stay on the line with the caller in any or every circumstance?

1. Being a telephone operator is *not* the same thing as a police dispatcher. The dispatcher is doing nothing but emergency dispatching. Every single call is an emergency; not just the rare one.

2. As I recall, Ma bell existed long before Reagan. That is to say, that was back in the day when jobs were done more by people than computer, and departments were well staffed, not forced to get by on skeleton crews.

I always love how so many people become experts and feel qualified to offer criticism of how a total stranger does their job.

[Raine1967]

76. Go read again... 911 may have saved my life by making sure someone stayed on the line with me.

And I don't need to provide for you jack shite about my qualification. My opinion stands.

and that is exactly what it is -- MY OPINION.

This is a discussion board, I responded to the OP with my opinion.

I love how you assume that I need to provide you with my qualifications to question the situation.

Good day.

[sibelian]

126. I entirely agree with magical_thyme.

I've worked in an ER room. Please take it from me - your opinions on this thread are ludicrous.

[Raine1967]

129. Well, Tell that to the City's Director of Public safety.

Because he seems to have an issue with the 911 operator failing to remain on the line with Ms. Berry as well.

Martin L. Flask, director of the city's Department of Public Safety, said his department is aware of the criticism the dispatcher received for his rude attitude toward Charles Ramsey, the man who called 9-1-1 after he heard Berry screaming "Help, help me out" while trying to escape from the Seymour Avenue home of Ariel Castro.

Ramsey said the dispatcher didn't take his call seriously.

Flask, a former Cleveland police chief, released the following statement:

"While the call-taker complied with policies and procedures which enabled a very fast response by police, we have noted some concerns which will be the focus of our review, including the call-taker's failure to remain on the line with Ms. Berry until police arrived on the scene.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/city_safety_director_marty_fla.html

My opinion is not ludicrous. I remain firm in believing that this woman should have remained on the line with 911 until LEO arrived. I don't know why people think this is ridiculous.

[magical thyme]

50. on dial-up so can't easily download, but

I think that when you work emergency-type jobs, you cannot allow your emotions to run you. This is based in real life experience as I am a med lab tech who works 2nd shift, which is a lot of ER work without oversight, often alone with only a lab assistant in the lab. It's not only that you will burn-out, although you will from sheer exhaution. It's that you cannot focus on your job, which is getting the facts and, in this case, getting the police to the right address asap. You need to stay focused on process to reduce the opportunity for errors and get the job done faster.

Furthermore, showing compassion has a way of often causing the recipient to break down. I know that from my other job as a customer service rep who is required to offer condolences when a beneficiary calls to say a mutual fund shareholder has died. I've learned to leave that for the end of the call, when the person can cry as needed without keeping us from getting the job done and causing me to make a mistake or forget some critical piece of information.

I would think in this situation, there is time for compassion after the rescue; in the moment the recipient needs to hang on and take care of herself until help can actually arrive.

I don't think it was necessarily a bad call for her to hang up, either. If the caller has been kidnapped and has gotten to a phone and says she is in danger, keeping her on the phone could increase her danger. What if the kidnapper arrives and catches her on the phone? Having a voice at the end of the phone isn't going to help her in that scenario.

Bottom line, it's not fair to "monday morning quarterback." Especially when you don't actually do the job yourself, you have no idea what parameters the professional is operating under.

[Still Sensible]

51. It seemed to me the dispatcher was perhaps not as

good as she could have been, but she wasn't as bad as some are making her out to be. I do think she was wrong to disconnect before police arrived, but fortunately they arrived 2-3 minutes after the call came in, which means it was probably within 1-1.5 minutes of the disconnect.

[Nye Bevan]

59. Dispatchers should always inject an appropriate amount of drama into their voices.

Also, adding some suitably dramatic background music would increase the impact. The goal should be to make the call sound like it could be in a Hollywood movie.

[LisaL]

63. Crying and screaming OMG! OMG! is what people seem to expect.

[laundry_queen]

98. No, it's not

I remember listening to many other published 911 calls and I remember hearing things like, "It's okay, hon, we're going to help you out." "don't worry, you're doing great, we're here for you" etc. This call sounded much colder. No one is saying we're expecting the operator to scream. What hyperbole - worthy of a thousand of these:

[MrSlayer]

60. Who cares? It isn't their job to feel sorry for people.

It's their job to get the pertinent information as soon as possible and to get whatever first responders are needed to the scene.

[sibelian]

125. Thank you.

From the bottom of my ex-Casualty-desk-receptionist heart.

[NotThisTime]

66. yes

[FarCenter]

67. Dispatchers should think, not emote.

[sibelian]

127. +1

Well put.

[aquart]

70. Yes. We were pretty disgusted listening to it.

[hunter]

91. I had a job that took similar calls, not 911, but medical. I had four phone lines to work with.

I guess I was lucky, the three years I worked there I never had a problem deciding which calls to drop when things got crazy.

I'm not going to second guess the 911 operator here. I imagine they are overworked, understaffed, undersupported, underequipped, and underpaid like most every other worker in the USA.

[Junkdrawer]

93. Shhh.. You'll wake the sleeping....

They're still living in Imaginary First World America.

Let them be.

[WCGreen]

94. Listen, these people hear everything that you can imagine and then some....

They are trained to not get emotional but take the information and get it out.

You know how many times people call in with bullshit.

[Tom Ripley]

97. The dispatcher sounded calm, efficient, and professional

[FSogol]

124. +1. Agreed. Wonder why people on a liberal website are so quick to bash public servants?

[MineralMan]

133. Because some folks have nothing better to do with

their time, I suspect.

[Liberal_in_LA]

136. she's going to be investigated

For not staying online

[dem in texas]

107. Don't second guess the 911 operator

I bet she gets lots of calls that don't amount to a hill of beans, like the one where the lady wanted someone to bring her some cigarettes. She knew the girl was with people who were helping her. Everyone is criticizing someone about this whole thing; why did the girls run away, why didn't the police check the family, etc. Let the whole thing play out where you have more facts and then make a judgment.

[RedCappedBandit]

121. She sounded fine; I don't like how she pressured the victim to hang up. nt

[sibelian]

128. Ever worked in ER?

Ever had an asthma call followed by a prank call followed by a cardiac arrest call in the space of 4 minutes?

[MaineLinePhilly]

131. Seemed dismissive and with an attitude if you ask me

I listened to the 911 call and granted you don't have to be emotionally involved, but that operator sounded like a douchebag. It was dismissive in some parts and again, while there's no need for emotions to get involved, there was a tone about it that I felt if I was on the phone I would've been asking to speak to a supervisor.

[MineralMan]

132. Not really. Second-guessing about 911 calls,

when the response was fast and appropriate seems a bit over the top to me. Why must we always over-analyze things like this.

It all turned out well. The system worked. The women are all OK. The men have been arrested. What more could we possibly ask?

[ecstatic]

134. I've called 911 twice due to alarms going off at night, both operators stayed on the line

for the 6 to 7 minutes it took for police to arrive. They were both professional and didn't sound like bored robots. I wonder how much violent crime happens in that neighborhood? Maybe 911 calls are taken more seriously in areas with high crime rates?

[datasuspect]

137. sounded like someone who makes $10 an hour to me.

it's a check. relatively clean work, you probably get told what to do all day.

why bother going the extra mile?

life isn't like movies or tv police dramas.