911 Dispatcher Fired for Hanging up on Domestic Violence Call
Posted on Nov 13, 2008 9:36am PST
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin a dispatcher within the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department was recently fired for accusations of gross neglect of duty.
According to Sheriff David Clarke, a woman called 911 from her cell phone in August to report that her boyfriend was assaulting her in front of her children. She was requesting help from law enforcement. At first, the victim tried to call for help from a landline, but the
domestic violence offender pulled the phone cord from the wall. She then decided to call 911 from her cell phone.
Sheriff Clarke recently said, "The experienced dispatcher should have known that you don't hang up on people because they are unable to articulate the kind of help they need."
The technology that 911 dispatchers use allow authorities to locate callers, within 300 feet, by tracking the callers' cell phones. Even if the callers are not able to verbally tell the dispatchers where they are, authorities are able to track the location. So, even though the victim had hung up, police still would have been able to track where she was and offer help.
Clarke claims that the dispatcher should have transferred the domestic call to the Milwaukee Police Department for immediate follow-up instead of allowing the caller to remain disconnected from help.
According to police, this is not the first time the dispatcher had received disciplinary action for poor judgment. The dispatcher has a history of violations.
"There is no excuse for this. I will not tolerate it, and I am demonstrating that. Nine-one-one dispatchers operate with no margin for error. They all know this. I'm disgusted by what took place," Clarke said.
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