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Was civilian dispatcher lazy?

Mar 27th, 2009 by Noah R. Bombard

Is this dispatcher lazy or just misunderstood? Take a listen and judge for yourself, but Lawrence Police were none too pleased upon hearing this dispatcher who took the call this morning of a suspicious package found in front of Lawrence District Court early this morning.

Here’s the memo from Capt. Scott J. McNamara to the dispatcher, whose name is not being released due to this being a personnel matter:

The purpose of this memo is to serve as a written reprimand due to what I perceive as your improper handling of a 911 call. The 911 call was received on 3/27/09 at approximately 7:05am. Having reviewed an audio tape transcription of the call it is clear to me that you failed to recognize and act on an emergent condition (no car was immediately dispatched). Your failure to act is made even more implausible given the fact that the caller in question spoke clearly and concisely; identifying himself along with the condition he faced (a suspicious package was left outside of the Fenton Judicial Center). Your responses to the caller (coupled with the tone of your voice) indicate that either you misunderstood or were otherwise apathetic towards  the situation he faced. In either case, it is your professional responsibility to ascertain accurate, timely information in which to impart to the dispatcher. In this regard your failure is self evident. In fact, had the caller not called back at 7:06am and imparted even more information it is unlikely that the call would have been dispatched.

As an experienced Call-Taker you should understand that your handling of 911 calls is integral to both the performance and reputation of the Lawrence Police Departetment. Your handling of the 911 call in question has needlessly led to adverse criticism of the department. This is particularly disheartening given that so many members of the department performed admirable on this day.

You should know that I find your level of professionalism, as it relates to this incident, to be unacceptable. Additionally, you should understand that I consider this to be the first formal step in the progressive dicipline process. Any future violations will likely be met with more severe consequences.

Signed,

Capt. Scott J. McNamara

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  • jlw2000

    I am not sure if the word I'd use is “lazy”…..
    I have dealt with the 911 dispatchers from a neighboring city (starts with M) on several occasions, and have found them to be equally apathetic.
    On one occasion, I called at 5AM to report my next door neighbor's car on fire in his driveway, close enough to the house to melt his vinyl siding. I heard the dispatcher say “911″ and I barely got the words “I am calling to report a fire…” out of my mouth when he said “Got it” and hung up. Now I know they have enhanced 911, they have my address and maybe this wasn't the first call, HOWEVER, how do they know there wasn't a fire in MY house?
    Recently I called 911 to report a neighbor shooting a type of rifle off his balcony at my bird feeder. I was home with two infants, and had no way of IDing the gun type visually (turned out to be a BB gun) and was treated pretty nonchalantly by the dispatcher as well. A car was dispatched about 45 minutes later. Gee, good thing it wasn't a “real” gun I guess. The officer “spoke” to the shooter, inspected the gun, then left. Despite the fact there were bullet holes in my bird feeder and my neighbor's garage windows were shot out, no action was taken by the police.
    I am by no means a dramatic or panicky person—just the opposite, I am a critical care RN in Boston, and I surely know the “system” and its appropriate use.
    Maybe some more training for these 911 dispatchers is in order.
    In my book, they're 0 for 0.

  • Heywood

    I think “idiot” or “jerk” or “should be a FORMER employee” is probably a more appropriate description of that clown. Why he's still employed, I have NO idea. All I can say is he's not a confidence-inspirer.

    I've never heard such a sloppy, slovenly, unprofessional, uncaring performance–and the fact that this guy wasn't F-I-R-E-D suggests that the city doesn't really give much in the way of a crap about how poorly these responders are performing. Is this guy the exception to the rule, or is this kind of nonsense par for the course?

    I feel sorry for the residents of Lawrence–it is rough enough to live in a bedraggled, underfunded and crime-riddled city; when the city employees plainly do not give a rat's ass about public safety, it's a scary thing, indeed.

  • http://www.eagletribune.com Noah R. Bombard

    It certainly was shocking to hear a 911 dispatcher respond in such a way. I'm not sure the fact he wasn't instantly fired says anything about the city, however, other than that they appear to be following the usual protocol one would follow when someone fails to do their job — namely, noting it and issuing a warning that this was the “first formal step” in the disciplinary process. Firing an employee on one instance and without warning would likely land the city a wrongful termination suit.

    That being said, it certainly is difficult to imagine what excuse a dispatcher would have for reacting in such a way. Having read police logs for years I know they get a lot of … well … let's just say really dumb calls (suspicious old people on bikes is one that stands out in my memory), but an abandoned suitcase with a note and cell phone strapped to it in front of a courthouse you would think would fall on the handy dispatchers “things to care about” chart.

    There are some things you just have to react to. Even as a horde of us media folks stood there last week I think most of us felt certain this was a hoax. I can't speak for police. But regardless, everyone proceeded as if it was the real thing. Because when dealing with potential dangers of this magnitude, you just have to. There is no difference between the drill and the real thing. Hoax though it may have been, it was a real test. And this dispatcher failed.

  • Sandra I

    Wow. This operator has the precise attitude I deplore. He is mocking and impugning. I am so glad the department took action.

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