# 911 hanging up on caller for swearing -- can they DO that? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 4, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308 "2009-05-04T17:22:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/201 "2009-05-07T00:46:47Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Definitely, **Guin**. Some people express fear as anger. It’s not uncommon. It’s not always the BEST way, but we are talking about life or death situations, not some tea party. That’s what I was trying to say. She’s 10 shades of freaked out to terrified all at once, her emotions are charged, her adrenaline is pumping, and then this guy blocks access to the help her dad desperately needs. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/202 "2009-05-07T01:23:53Z")
_Maybe_ she was. We’ll never really know. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/203 "2009-05-07T01:48:27Z")
We already do – she’s said she was scared and anxious, after being hung up on THREE TIMES. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/204 "2009-05-07T01:54:24Z")
You mean to the interviewing reporter? It’s a self-serving statement well after the initial event, for what that’s worth. If she _was_ just really angry, she’s not likely to admit it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/205 "2009-05-07T02:02:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > You mean to the interviewing reporter? It’s a self-serving statement well after the initial event, for what that’s worth. If she _was_ just really angry, she’s not likely to admit it. Well, hey, I’d be angry too. Her father was sick, she was angry/scared, and she reacted by swearing. Not one’s best moment, but then, as someone said, this isn’t high tea with the Queen. What’s the saying, “It’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission?” That sort of applies to this situation. She may be an idiot…but the officer was an even bigger one. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/206 "2009-05-07T02:08:16Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > She may be an idiot…but the officer was an even bigger one. And I completely and unreservedly agree. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/207 "2009-05-07T02:13:39Z")
nvm ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/208 "2009-05-07T14:45:23Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I should pony up so I can keep my location updated… There’s a cheaper way, I think. Just remind people that you live in Spain in all your posts and it probably won’t go unnoticed. That’s not as simple though, so yeah, ponying up the $15 might be the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/209 "2009-05-07T15:03:59Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > And I completely and unreservedly agree. Ditto. He’s a cop. If a little thing like bad words upsets him so much, he’s in the wrong business. If he is going to put people’s lives in jeopardy just becaue of some stupid power trip, he can go to hell. Either way, the more I think about it, the more I believe he should get The Boot. Either way, he needs to be gone. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/210 "2009-05-07T15:35:04Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Either way, he needs to be gone. While I recognize the satisfaction in that, I’m not super-eager to discard his years of police experience based on one incident. A pattern, possibly, but he can be made “gone” from the 911 service and still be useful elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/211 "2009-05-07T16:44:37Z")
Sorry to dredge up page three, but I just noticed this: > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Your joke is sufficiently close to Jack Batty’s, both in content and context, that the similarity is undeniable. Not for nothing, but I’m betting every last swinging dick was thinking of that same joke; I just posted it first. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/212 "2009-05-08T15:37:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > While I recognize the satisfaction in that, I’m not super-eager to discard his years of police experience based on one incident. A pattern, possibly, but he can be made “gone” from the 911 service and still be useful elsewhere. What would it take to say that this guy is incapable of maintaining the objectivity necessary to do his job properly? Would someone have to die first? This guy needs to be weeded out. To have as many years in law enforcement as he has and to have acted that way is a warning sign. An indicator that something is coming loose around the edges. Remember this incident didn’t _end_ with the phone call. It wasn’t a matter of six minutes when he was in a crappy mood and handled something poorly. [ol][li]He violated 911 procedure **three** times when this girl’s father was in need of emergency medical care.[_]He immediately lied about his procedure violation to the dispatcher, telling them that the girl was hostile and wouldn’t give him any information, after he never once asked her any basic questions like “what is your emergency?” and instead merely ranted about her language choices and called her names.[_]He violated the procedure of any police body in the United States of America, by refusing to distance himself and allow an impartial third party to take the young woman’s complaint when she came into the police station, and allowing the system to determine if an investigative procedure should begin as a result of her complaint.[\*]In a blatant, almost textbook example of classic police intimidation, he **arrested her on a false charge _and_ a non-existent one**. That this came _after_ he lied to dispatch in order to downplay his culpability it’s difficult to not interpret his arrest of this young woman as an effort to bully her into silence about his misdeeds.[/ol][/li] This wasn’t a “mistake” or an “accident” here. This was willful, egregious misconduct that happened over a lengthy period of time. He failed to follow 911 procedure, he failed to follow police procedure, he lied to the dispatcher, he lied on an arrest report (an official legal document) and in the span of doing so, he put a man’s life and ongoing wellbeing at grave risk and abused this young woman and _violated her civil rights_ to try to cover it all up. If **that** is the result of his “many years of experience” then I don’t want to see what comes next. And I’m sure that the people of this suburb of Detroit, which cannot be such a nice place to live at the moment, don’t **deserve** to have to wait and see what comes next. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/213 "2009-05-08T15:39:05Z")
Sounds like he was the one who was just plain angry. And over what? The f-bomb? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/214 "2009-05-08T16:56:02Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > This wasn’t a “mistake” or an “accident” here. This was willful, egregious misconduct that happened over a lengthy period of time. He failed to follow 911 procedure, he failed to follow police procedure, he lied to the dispatcher, he lied on an arrest report (an official legal document) and in the span of doing so, he put a man’s life and ongoing wellbeing at grave risk and abused this young woman and _violated her civil rights_ to try to cover it all up. > > If **that** is the result of his “many years of experience” then I don’t want to see what comes next. And I’m sure that the people of this suburb of Detroit, which cannot be such a nice place to live at the moment, don’t **deserve** to have to wait and see what comes next. THIS. I personally shudder to think of what has already transpired. Who knows how many power trips this asswipe has indulged in to the detriment of those he is tasked to protect. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/215 "2009-05-08T17:22:46Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > While I recognize the satisfaction in that, I’m not super-eager to discard his years of police experience based on one incident. A pattern, possibly, but he can be made “gone” from the 911 service and still be useful elsewhere. This morning on radio station K-Earth 101 they played the tape. The cop started “going off” as soon as the girl said one “bleeped” word, that wasn’t even directed at him. Furthermore, the tape showed that this cop had a “bleep word” of his own. From what I heard (of the tape they played) this guy was an asshole with a chip on his shoulder. He didn’t care if someone needed assistance, didn’t care that it was his JOB to handle the call (and argue about it later if he wants to). 9-11 is emergency service. It isn’t the grammar patrol or the language patrol. If he worked for me, his ass would be gone. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/216 "2009-05-08T17:25:14Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > This wasn’t a “mistake” or an “accident” here. This was willful, egregious misconduct that happened over a lengthy period of time. He failed to follow 911 procedure, he failed to follow police procedure, he lied to the dispatcher, he lied on an arrest report (an official legal document) and in the span of doing so, he put a man’s life and ongoing wellbeing at grave risk and abused this young woman and _violated her civil rights_ to try to cover it all up. > > If **that** is the result of his “many years of experience” then I don’t want to see what comes next. And I’m sure that the people of this suburb of Detroit, which cannot be such a nice place to live at the moment, don’t **deserve** to have to wait and see what comes next. This. Further, what if the girl’s father HAD died because of this moron? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/217 "2009-05-08T17:41:06Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > This morning on radio station K-Earth 101 they played the tape. The cop started “going off” as soon as the girl said one “bleeped” word, that wasn’t even directed at him. Furthermore, the tape showed that this cop had a “bleep word” of his own. > > From what I heard (of the tape they played) this guy was an asshole with a chip on his shoulder. He didn’t care if someone needed assistance, didn’t care that it was his JOB to handle the call (and argue about it later if he wants to). Yeah…It just took so little to make him start acting like a dick. And the fact that he was being ruder makes me think that it’s not likely that the girl’s behavior had anything to do with it. He was a small minded creep who was probably looking for a fight. It would be one thing if she were on hold for customer service, used profanity and was told not to. Weird, but whatever. It’s another thing entirely to focus on profanity when you’re supposed to be focusing on helping someone in an emergency. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/218 "2009-05-09T06:26:30Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Tell me someone got fired. Tell me the asshole who started this got canned, and the other asshole cops who arrested her on a trumped up charged got canned too. > > The world is not that just, is it? Fucking pisses me off! Are you kidding, the first act of a cop is protecting other cops no matter what. If you arrest the girl then her claim is wrong, that is probvably the way they think. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/219 "2009-05-09T13:05:25Z")
From the link it sounds like she started swearing, or droped the ‘f’ bomb when she was on hold. I’d be swearing too. Fire him. Simple. Solves the problem. Well at least one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308/220 "2009-05-09T13:46:17Z")
Since this happened seven months ago, I wonder if we have any information about what’s happened to the cop and the girl (and her dad) since then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/911-hanging-up-on-caller-for-swearing-can-they-do-that/495308.md?page=12)