# Detroit 911 operator refuses to send help **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749 "2006-04-07T17:39:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/121 "2006-04-11T05:16:36Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > That would be fine if it were a mistake, as in she got the address wrong or something. There’s a difference between the doctor slipping the scalpel a bit too far and showing up to the OR drunk. This 911 operator assumed the child was making a prank call, and did not send over police to investigate. I think in 911 cases, you err on the side of caution. As **Guin** stated, she got the stuffing scared out of her for calling when it was not an emergency. I guess I would have to see the operating protocol for these call centers. For example, how many 911 calls are listed as fraudulent and not responded to? What is the training guideline for this? Did she speak to a supervisor who told her to disallow the call? There are a lot of facts that we don’t have on hand. Henceforth, although there is definetely something that went wrong, we don’t know if it is the operator, the supervisor or the system. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/122 "2006-04-11T07:42:04Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Blame me for whatever you want. It doesn’t make it valid. You may as well blame me for fucking my Pugs if you’re going that far out. Come on, who could blame you for that? We’ve all seen the way they dress, wearing nothing more than a collar… they’re asking for it. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/123 "2006-04-11T12:13:05Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > IKeep in mind that 911 hangups and kids calling 911 is very common. I’m not going to say 3 hours is an acceptable response because it’s not, and to make the judgement call to classify it as a prank shouldn’t have happened. However, the 3 hour response probably isn’t in the hands of the dispatcher. They do have to deal with a lot of garbage, like this [little shit](http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--brf-fake911calls0410apr10,0,4083938.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork). Still, the operator here wasn’t getting hangups, she was getting a live person reporting an emergency. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/124 "2006-04-11T21:24:45Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > 😕 Are you saying Detroit is only 21% black? > > [http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-5.pdf](http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-5.pdf) (warning: pdf) > > As of 2000, the population of Detroit is 81-83% black. Philadelphia is 21% percent Black. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/125 "2006-06-08T12:41:20Z")
[Charges have been filed](http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/07/911.death.ap/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/126 "2006-06-08T12:45:05Z")
I wonder what took them so long? Thanks for the update. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/127 "2006-06-08T13:02:44Z")
I’m glad to learn that charges were filed. We try to teach our children the right thing to do, they do it and we fail them. Poor little boy. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/128 "2006-06-08T13:18:44Z")
In rereading this thread, I see **duffer** is now a Guest. Did I miss his farewell, or did he just slip away? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/129 "2006-06-08T13:49:29Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > [Charges have been filed](http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/07/911.death.ap/index.html). Good. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/130 "2006-06-08T15:13:16Z")
I know we’ve been over this – I followed this thread closely the first time around – but I still have to say, after reading the headline: **prank?!?!?** I have a five year old and a seven year old (who, obviously, was five once). This is simply not the kind of prank a five year old thinks of. I could see thinking it was a prank if it was a ten year old who refused to give any more details (though I would still send help, every damned time), but not a fucking kindergartener. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/131 "2006-06-08T16:37:48Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > In rereading this thread, I see **duffer** is now a Guest. Did I miss his farewell, or did he just slip away? ☹ I _thought_ it seemed less stupid around here. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/132 "2006-06-08T16:58:07Z")
> [@](#): > > After police investigated, Nichols received a five-day suspension, and Sutton received three days. Both have returned to work, Worthy said. Boy, they must have one hell of a union if that’s all they got for not doing their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/133 "2006-06-08T17:19:51Z")
> [@kellner](#): > > That’s what I was wondering, too. Apparently she hasn’t been charged with any crime so far. Here that would be at least [“Failure to render assistance”](http://www.iuscomp.org/gla/statutes/StGB.htm#323c) and “Negligent Bodily Injury”/“Negligent Homicide” would be worth a try as well. The elements neither for manslaughter nor for homicide exist here. I too wish to see them criminally punished; but, if true, it will be of a much lesser magnitude. A critical element of manslaughter/homicide is intent. None exists here. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/134 "2006-06-08T17:28:02Z")
[http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/07/911.death.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/07/911.death.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who defended assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city on behalf of the family. **Fieger said Robert’s mother, who had an enlarged heart, would have survived if help had been sent immediately**. Both a lawyer and a doctor, he? (emphasis added) ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/135 "2006-06-08T17:40:34Z")
Its possible he is making that statement based on autopsy reports and not just pulling it out of his ass, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/136 "2006-06-08T17:50:41Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Its possible he is making that statement based on autopsy reports and not just pulling it out of his ass, you know. Yes, that would be the obvious assumption. I’m subtly taking a poke at the reporter who failed to mention this in the story. ---
**Author:** ![Kentammy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@Kentammy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kentammy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/137 "2006-06-09T06:49:18Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > She sounds like someone who’s been at it too long and has become complacent about the repercussions of her actions. I completely agree. Whenever I hire on with a new company, I can almost always spot the long-timers by their “I can do no wrong” attitude. Much of that attitude is well deserved through sheer, on the job experience. But, inevitably for some, they begin to impose their own “take” on how things should be done. Her actions in this case, unfortunately, are not uncommon of many long-timers in many different professions. She must be aware that, by now, her behavior has garnered national attention through the press, and that the general sentiment among the masses is one of pure disgust. That alone would mortify me into permanent seclusion. And she still has to endure the lawsuit and subsequent trial, where a big bright-ass light will be shone directly on this sentiment. A far more suitable punishment, IMO, than having to find another job. ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/138 "2006-06-09T07:36:31Z")
I’ve just skipped a bunch of posts out of my irate-ness. And it’s not even for the same reason that ya’ll are pissed. I mean, part of it is, but… Anyway, point is, I skipped a bunch of posts, please forgive me if I reiterate something someone else said. First of all, any 911 operator brushing off a kid as a prank call is …there’s no word to express what I’m feeling about that. Think of the meanest, nastiest things you can apply to people, and roll them into a ball. That might come close. I’ve personally saved my mother’s life by using 911 as a kid, and if I’d been brushed off as a prank call not only would I have lost my mother, but I’d never trust the police again. I’m aware that there are different things going on now that I’ve read the second article, but the second operator THREATENED the little boy to the point where he hung up the phone instead of trying to talk to her. It doesn’t take much to make a 6 year old scared. Second of all, [this](http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006604080315) article that someone linked to mentioned unions, which says that yes, unions are involved in this, and I am PISSED. I’m in a union. And when something happens where gross negligence causes someone’s death at the hand of one of our union members (it’s happened before, we deal with heavy equipment and such), do you know what we do? WE KICK THEM OUT OF THE UNION! We don’t praise them for being assholes! It’s unions and people like this that give unions a bad name! We don’t back up incompetence! And we shouldn’t. That’s not what unions were formed for. The union local I’m attached to wants quality workers, not every joe schmoe off the street. We don’t want people like that REPRESENTING us. Okay. Blood pressure down to normal. Kinda. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/139 "2006-06-09T07:43:23Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Its possible he is making that statement based on autopsy reports and not just pulling it out of his ass, you know. It’s possible, but I’m not terribly disposed to assume anything positive about Geoffrey Feiger. I do wish he would move to another state. At least he doesn’t seem to be running for governor this time around. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/140 "2008-01-17T18:02:01Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] [Charges have been filed](http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/07/911.death.ap/index.html). [/QUOTE] And the [trial has started.](http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/METRO/801150320/1361) I’m hoping our Detroit Dopers can keep us up to speed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749.md?page=8)