Today a woman says she has a question about her friend. Her friend wants to move out of her parents house and come and live with her, but her parents won't let her. Can they do that? Can they make her keep on living with them? "How old is she?" I asked. "She's 35." O.k., now I'm sitting there trying to figure out why I being asked such an obiously silly question, I mean there's gotta be more to it, right? . "Is she mentally handicapped in some way or been deemed incompetent by a judge or doctor?". "No, she's fine. They just don't like the idea of her moving out, and they say they aren't gonna let her."
I'm still thinking maybe there's more to this somehow and she's actually housebound or some type of medical case, or something....I mean why else would she be calling me asking me this?
"Is there any reason that ANYONE would have ordered her to live with her parents?" "No", she replies.
After more talking along the same lines and further questioning, I came to the conclusion that this chick is just really that........out of touch maybe? I don't know how to describe my opinion on that one without being a bit condescending.
After exhaustive questioning I finally tell her. If she's an adult and there's no reason she can't take care of herself, then she's a big girl now and she can move out if she wants to. And she's like, "Oh, O.K., that's what I thought."
Says thanks and hangs up.
If you're sittin here shakin your head like I was, don't ask me where this stuff comes from. But I get em all the time.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
This Guy Must Be Dying....
Alrighty, since I'm on my days off, here's one from several years ago.
This was back when I was working night shifts. Pretty late at night if I recall, I get the 911 call and right off the bat, I hear very loud moaning, mixed with some wailing and then occasional grunting. I immediately start thinking the worst and try to get the guy (sounded like a guy) to say something, anything. The only response I get is more grunting and wailing. I decide at this point I've got someone who's hurt pretty bad, still don't know why, but lots of things are running through my head. I'm thinking heart attack, or stroke, or worse, this guy could be the victim of some type of vicious attack in the night. Anyways, I've already started everyone, cops, ambulance, fire truck and I'm scared this is going to make the news the next day. Then, all of a sudden, amidst the groaning and moaning, I hear a woman saying, "Honey, what are you doing? You know they can't understand you! Then she grabs the phone and asks who's there. I immediately tell her this is 911 and demand to know what's going on. Then she tells me he's her son who lives with her.... and he's deaf. Not only can he not hear anything I'm saying, he can't talk at all, can only sign. Apparently they had just been in an argument and he got so ticked off at her he decided to call the cops. Only problem was once he made the call, all he could do was sit there and moan and wail at me.
Anyways, I cancelled the army of lights and sirens headed their way. Once the other dispatchers heard why, everyone was laughin there butts off. We played that recording over and over and over that night before our shift was over.
Just in case your wondering, we have equipment dedicated just to taking calls from the deaf. It's called TDD (telecommunications device for the deaf). Their phones are equipped in a way that they can basically chat with other people on a computer screen with TDD.. We recieve special training just for taking these type calls and they're actually pretty cool. If I recall, this guy had the equipment and could've used it but was pretty drunk and so peeved, he just picked up the phone and commenced to wailing.
This was back when I was working night shifts. Pretty late at night if I recall, I get the 911 call and right off the bat, I hear very loud moaning, mixed with some wailing and then occasional grunting. I immediately start thinking the worst and try to get the guy (sounded like a guy) to say something, anything. The only response I get is more grunting and wailing. I decide at this point I've got someone who's hurt pretty bad, still don't know why, but lots of things are running through my head. I'm thinking heart attack, or stroke, or worse, this guy could be the victim of some type of vicious attack in the night. Anyways, I've already started everyone, cops, ambulance, fire truck and I'm scared this is going to make the news the next day. Then, all of a sudden, amidst the groaning and moaning, I hear a woman saying, "Honey, what are you doing? You know they can't understand you! Then she grabs the phone and asks who's there. I immediately tell her this is 911 and demand to know what's going on. Then she tells me he's her son who lives with her.... and he's deaf. Not only can he not hear anything I'm saying, he can't talk at all, can only sign. Apparently they had just been in an argument and he got so ticked off at her he decided to call the cops. Only problem was once he made the call, all he could do was sit there and moan and wail at me.
Anyways, I cancelled the army of lights and sirens headed their way. Once the other dispatchers heard why, everyone was laughin there butts off. We played that recording over and over and over that night before our shift was over.
Just in case your wondering, we have equipment dedicated just to taking calls from the deaf. It's called TDD (telecommunications device for the deaf). Their phones are equipped in a way that they can basically chat with other people on a computer screen with TDD.. We recieve special training just for taking these type calls and they're actually pretty cool. If I recall, this guy had the equipment and could've used it but was pretty drunk and so peeved, he just picked up the phone and commenced to wailing.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Naked Man Loves his Vodka
Today was an extremely busy day. Although I was answering calls left and right, almost all my calls today were typical or routine.
The call featured today is actually not a funny one, but unfortuately a rather sad story. A woman called me up very frustrated about the situation with her neighbor. He is an elderly man apparently going into the first stages of dementia. This woman became involved simply out of compassion for his well being. She said he doesnt seem to have anybody to care for him, and he has stopped being able to care for himself. He frequently falls down and is unable to get back up. He has also stopped feeding himself and has taken to just walking around naked, drinking vodka. This is not uncommon (the dementia part I mean, the naked vodka drinking is a first for me though) as people get into their final years, our minds go and we eventually revert back to being like children, needing the attention and direction of a parent or caregiver.
In this case, I told her that we could send an officer to check on him to see if he was o.k. for now, and if he was in decent shape, Adult Protective Services would have to decide what action would be taken later on. But, as it turned out, the officer got there to find that he needed immediate medical attention, and an ambulance was called. So, I think this fellow is very fortunate in that he had neighbor who felt enough compassion to get herself involved and got him the care he needs. At this point, I'm sure he's going to be headed to a long term care facility or nursing home. But, it will be for the best. If this woman had not got involved, we no doubt would have been responding later on to a death call.
So for now, he's headed to a better place, but unfortunately for him, his naked vodka drinking days are probably over.
I'm going into my days off, but I want to keep this going every day. So, the next 3 days I'll be posting some of my favorites from over the years. Catch-ya then....
The call featured today is actually not a funny one, but unfortuately a rather sad story. A woman called me up very frustrated about the situation with her neighbor. He is an elderly man apparently going into the first stages of dementia. This woman became involved simply out of compassion for his well being. She said he doesnt seem to have anybody to care for him, and he has stopped being able to care for himself. He frequently falls down and is unable to get back up. He has also stopped feeding himself and has taken to just walking around naked, drinking vodka. This is not uncommon (the dementia part I mean, the naked vodka drinking is a first for me though) as people get into their final years, our minds go and we eventually revert back to being like children, needing the attention and direction of a parent or caregiver.
In this case, I told her that we could send an officer to check on him to see if he was o.k. for now, and if he was in decent shape, Adult Protective Services would have to decide what action would be taken later on. But, as it turned out, the officer got there to find that he needed immediate medical attention, and an ambulance was called. So, I think this fellow is very fortunate in that he had neighbor who felt enough compassion to get herself involved and got him the care he needs. At this point, I'm sure he's going to be headed to a long term care facility or nursing home. But, it will be for the best. If this woman had not got involved, we no doubt would have been responding later on to a death call.
So for now, he's headed to a better place, but unfortunately for him, his naked vodka drinking days are probably over.
I'm going into my days off, but I want to keep this going every day. So, the next 3 days I'll be posting some of my favorites from over the years. Catch-ya then....
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Skinny-Dipper Aggravates Neighbors
Amazingly enough, today was actually pretty uneventful. I did get one call that made me laugh though. A lady calls me up just as she's pulling into her driveway. Her problem was with her neighbor. As she's driving down her street just before lunchtime, she passes her neighbor's house to see him out in his back yard completely naked. Apparently he has a pool and loves to swim in the nude. After questioning her further, she goes on to tell me how this is actually a frequent problem and how they like to have skinny-dipping parties on the weekend. I loved her attitude though, she was pretty laid back about it. I could certainly see some old ladies calling me and going ballistic, but this lady was saying "Ya know, that's fine if he wants to swim naked, but he has a tall privacy fence and it'd be nice if he just shut his gate first so everybody else wouldn't have to see". Well we sent an officer out there and asked him to please keep his gate shut and put some shorts on.
In another call, a man was reporting a male subject who was very busy fighting his shadow. The guy tried to talk to him but he just ignored him and kept on swinging. Turns out though we're actually very familiar with this guy and he really is about as looney as it gets. We get calls on him all the time because his behavior is quite bizarre and frequently scares people. I told the guy so far he's been pretty harmless. The only person he's seemed to try to hurt is his shadow as far as I know. I then told him I'd send an officer and we'd have the guy move on. This is actually a pretty common call, there are alot more people with severe mental issues than most people would believe. We even have a ten code dedicated just to describing someone with mental issues.
Other calls taken today:
House burglary, A/C window units taken
More people selling puppies in a parking lot
Couple vehicle accidents, one had minor injuries
Another burglar alarm
Couple medical calls
Another divorcing couple with money disputes
And last but not least, a man called me telling me he wanted to commit suicide. He was extremely upset and this was more of a "call for help" type call. I stayed on the phone with him and let him talk about his problems until officers arrived. I believe he was later taken to a mental hospital.
And that's another day in the life of a 911 operator.
In another call, a man was reporting a male subject who was very busy fighting his shadow. The guy tried to talk to him but he just ignored him and kept on swinging. Turns out though we're actually very familiar with this guy and he really is about as looney as it gets. We get calls on him all the time because his behavior is quite bizarre and frequently scares people. I told the guy so far he's been pretty harmless. The only person he's seemed to try to hurt is his shadow as far as I know. I then told him I'd send an officer and we'd have the guy move on. This is actually a pretty common call, there are alot more people with severe mental issues than most people would believe. We even have a ten code dedicated just to describing someone with mental issues.
Other calls taken today:
House burglary, A/C window units taken
More people selling puppies in a parking lot
Couple vehicle accidents, one had minor injuries
Another burglar alarm
Couple medical calls
Another divorcing couple with money disputes
And last but not least, a man called me telling me he wanted to commit suicide. He was extremely upset and this was more of a "call for help" type call. I stayed on the phone with him and let him talk about his problems until officers arrived. I believe he was later taken to a mental hospital.
And that's another day in the life of a 911 operator.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Can you come arrest my wife? She's spending all my money....
Yup, sure enough, first call of the day and we were off to a glorious start. A man calls me up and says he wants an officer to come out and arrest his wife. I ask him why and he tells me the story of he and his wife's pending divorce and how she's now taking money out of his bank account and going out and spending it all. (I thought about having him call up my wife and tell her how that makes him feel but held my tongue) Unfortunately for this poor fellow, the police department will not enforce budgetary indescretions or fiscal irresponsiblities by your spouse. I had to tell him that during the divorce process he can ask the judge to make her give the money back but that's up to the judge. And in the meantime, put your money somewhere else if you don't want her spending it.
This one also tied for first place. Female caller on 911 lines poses a "what if" question at me. Oh, and I do love the "what if's", because they are almost always completely stupid... She starts off with "What happens if I kill my boyfriend because he won't get out of my car?" I told her that before she goes and does something like that she needs to let police officers come out and handle the siuation. (Cell phone call by the way, so I don't know where they're at). She says, well he ain't worth nothing and I'm tired of his ass and I just want him out of my car. I again told her that police should respond. She says, "Well they aint worth nothin either" of course indicating she didn't want us out there. "So what happens if I kill him?" "Ma'am, you'd be arrested and put in jail for Murder"............(I meant to say DUHH!!!)... She says fine in a resigned fashion, as if she was dissapointed I wouldn't give her permission to kill him, then gets off the phone. I would certainly have sent officers but didnt have a location and she was obviously anti-PD (there's a few cop-haters out there) so there wasnt anything more I could do with the call. Also, my impression at the time was that the call was meant to intimidate her boyfriend in the car to start acting right and not to actually get police involved. Who knows, might've worked.
Anyways, these two calls show one thing for sure, these people walk among us......(hushed voice)(and they're EVERYWHERE!)
Of course there are many more calls that I handled but mostly routine stuff. I'll go into to those just to give you an idea of the range of calls I take, but I'll most likely stop mentioning them altogether in future posts. I imagine I'll only go into the more interesting ones and hope people realize these are interspersed among many other calls.
Several calls for minor vehicle accidents with no injuries
One call from a car lot who found several vehicles with windows smashed in when the got to work
One lady who had a swarm of bees out on her back porch (we don't go out for those by the way, you have to call an exterminator, unless of course someones been stung or hurt), fairly common call though, comes up pretty often
Couple calls for vehicles that had been burglarized during the night.
One guy set off his burglar alarm in his home
One poor elderly man fell and broke his hip
A guy was giving away puppies at the Walmart parking lot without a permit
One guy had a car catch on fire out in his driveway
And last but not least, one lady called to report her gas had been siphoned from her tank overnight. She filled the car last night and this morning it was empty. She calls back later though when she realized her gas gauge was broken.
Anyways, that's one day in the life of a 911 dispatcher. More posts to follow.
By the way, any feedback would be great. Let me know if you find this stuff interesting.
This one also tied for first place. Female caller on 911 lines poses a "what if" question at me. Oh, and I do love the "what if's", because they are almost always completely stupid... She starts off with "What happens if I kill my boyfriend because he won't get out of my car?" I told her that before she goes and does something like that she needs to let police officers come out and handle the siuation. (Cell phone call by the way, so I don't know where they're at). She says, well he ain't worth nothing and I'm tired of his ass and I just want him out of my car. I again told her that police should respond. She says, "Well they aint worth nothin either" of course indicating she didn't want us out there. "So what happens if I kill him?" "Ma'am, you'd be arrested and put in jail for Murder"............(I meant to say DUHH!!!)... She says fine in a resigned fashion, as if she was dissapointed I wouldn't give her permission to kill him, then gets off the phone. I would certainly have sent officers but didnt have a location and she was obviously anti-PD (there's a few cop-haters out there) so there wasnt anything more I could do with the call. Also, my impression at the time was that the call was meant to intimidate her boyfriend in the car to start acting right and not to actually get police involved. Who knows, might've worked.
Anyways, these two calls show one thing for sure, these people walk among us......(hushed voice)(and they're EVERYWHERE!)
Of course there are many more calls that I handled but mostly routine stuff. I'll go into to those just to give you an idea of the range of calls I take, but I'll most likely stop mentioning them altogether in future posts. I imagine I'll only go into the more interesting ones and hope people realize these are interspersed among many other calls.
Several calls for minor vehicle accidents with no injuries
One call from a car lot who found several vehicles with windows smashed in when the got to work
One lady who had a swarm of bees out on her back porch (we don't go out for those by the way, you have to call an exterminator, unless of course someones been stung or hurt), fairly common call though, comes up pretty often
Couple calls for vehicles that had been burglarized during the night.
One guy set off his burglar alarm in his home
One poor elderly man fell and broke his hip
A guy was giving away puppies at the Walmart parking lot without a permit
One guy had a car catch on fire out in his driveway
And last but not least, one lady called to report her gas had been siphoned from her tank overnight. She filled the car last night and this morning it was empty. She calls back later though when she realized her gas gauge was broken.
Anyways, that's one day in the life of a 911 dispatcher. More posts to follow.
By the way, any feedback would be great. Let me know if you find this stuff interesting.
Disclaimer
O.K., sorry but I really love my job and have to clear the air so to speak about what I'm not going to do.....
I am not going to post private info such as names, or addresses or anything that would violate the privacy act or other laws that are applicable to my position.
I do not respresent the views of the Police Dept. or those of the city I work for, but rather am trying to give an honest account and opinion of someone who works at 911.
I will not entertain any attempts to solicit more information about the calls or situations I will describe in future posts, but will happily refer you to the media reps at the Police Department or the city.
I am also not going to talk or give involved details regarding high profile cases or calls that may have sensitive on-going investigations
Above all, I'm not here to help you break the law and don't want to have anything to do with questions that go in that direction.
Feel free to ask me any other questions. I hope you enjoy the posts.
I am not going to post private info such as names, or addresses or anything that would violate the privacy act or other laws that are applicable to my position.
I do not respresent the views of the Police Dept. or those of the city I work for, but rather am trying to give an honest account and opinion of someone who works at 911.
I will not entertain any attempts to solicit more information about the calls or situations I will describe in future posts, but will happily refer you to the media reps at the Police Department or the city.
I am also not going to talk or give involved details regarding high profile cases or calls that may have sensitive on-going investigations
Above all, I'm not here to help you break the law and don't want to have anything to do with questions that go in that direction.
Feel free to ask me any other questions. I hope you enjoy the posts.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Introduction to 911
To start off, I'd like to say a little about my background and experience in 911 and my motivations for starting this blog.
I started working at my local Police Dept. as a 911 dispatcher in Oct of 2000. The training process is quite long (about 6 months), ((which is maybe not enough)) and includes different phases of classroom and on the job instruction with a trainer. To elaborate, you work at this place for six months with someone holding your hand at all times, you don't make any decisions on your own pretty much the entire time until your training is done.
This training is only the beginning though. I can't even begin to describe the unbelievable range of situations and events that are handled and eventually codified and responded to by 911 dispatchers.
Just to give you an idea, we field calls ranging from amazingly stupid and boring to hair-raising sitting on the edge of your seat type calls. And everything in between. We handle mundane "this sign has been knocked down" or "what's the law on watering your lawn" to the "I was just robbed at gunpoint", and "I just found my friends dead in their apartment" ( yes, I was actually the one to take the 911 call on the recent double homocide). One thing I always tell people (and new dispatchers) is you never know what's gonna be on the other end of that incoming 911 call.......It could be anything......literally.......
To become proficient and or even to later excel at this job, takes years of experience and learning. Suffice it to say, you come out of training and hope to hell you don't get yourself fired before you can figure out what you've got yourself into. Of course there are people and resources there to help you through it, but there is quite a learning curve to go through. It's awhile before you even begin to start feeling comfortable with your ability to pick up that phone and say "911, what is your emergency?".
I very distinctly remember the first night that I felt I was actually doing "good". I had been there about a year......Really. A full year before I felt I was beginning to perform well. It was short-lived though because a few days later I screwed up and was smacked down for it. But anyways, even with that, I began to not only do well, but started to exceed the performance of others later on.
After two years on the job, I was promoted to 911 Communications Supervisor. I was very proud of this because this was an extremely quick promotion. Two years is hardly enough time to become proficient, much less be put in a position to direct the efforts of people with many more years of experience. I spent the next 4 years there as a supervisor and learned alot. I mean alot. I learned more as a supervisor than I would have learned spending the next 10 years as a dispatcher.
O.K., now I get an offer to be a General Manager at a steakhouse with a liitle bit more pay, and with lots more responsibility and eventually took the offer. I left the police dept. and went to that. After 2 years at the steakhouse, I realized that my ideals and philosophies were way too different than those of my superiors and made the decision to resign. It was a hard blow to my ego and definately to my wallet, but I felt it was the right thing to do. (Still feel that way by the way)
Now I'm back. Have to start at the bottom again, but that's o.k. Either way, I'm doing something I love and have no regrets. Anyways, I've been at it several months again now and am back in the swing of things. Lots of new toys to play with since I left but I think I've made it past the learning curve now and am doing well. So, now I'll get into the whole point.
Ever since I started, family, friends, and people I run into always have questions about what I do and the kinds of calls I take. I don't know how many times people have asked me, "Whats your favorite call", or " What's the worst call you've taken", or "Whats the funniest call?"......and on, and on., etc., etc.,. Although I certainly don't mind the questions, I've found it extremly hard to pick one or two calls to share out of a plethra of crazy, crazy, crap!! I mean to say, I've taken so, so many crazy calls, I've forgotten more hilarious, nerve-wracking, hideous, scary, heart-wrenching calls than I can possibly remember. The only way I can keep up, and the only way I can possibly answer all those questions is to start posting them while i still remeber them.
So now, just for you, I'm going to start a daily rant about the calls I take day to day. This was pretty long, but I had to get it off my chest. If you are still with me after all that, then kudos to you. Thanks for your attention. Please read my next post regarding my disclaimers. Of course with posting this info, I'm gonna have to hold back many things. Private info is a given, but I'm also going to limit anything I say regarding calls with ongoing ivestigations or high profile crimes that would have signifcant media interest. I'll go into that in my disclaimers post.
Anyways, hope ya'll find this stuff intersting.
I started working at my local Police Dept. as a 911 dispatcher in Oct of 2000. The training process is quite long (about 6 months), ((which is maybe not enough)) and includes different phases of classroom and on the job instruction with a trainer. To elaborate, you work at this place for six months with someone holding your hand at all times, you don't make any decisions on your own pretty much the entire time until your training is done.
This training is only the beginning though. I can't even begin to describe the unbelievable range of situations and events that are handled and eventually codified and responded to by 911 dispatchers.
Just to give you an idea, we field calls ranging from amazingly stupid and boring to hair-raising sitting on the edge of your seat type calls. And everything in between. We handle mundane "this sign has been knocked down" or "what's the law on watering your lawn" to the "I was just robbed at gunpoint", and "I just found my friends dead in their apartment" ( yes, I was actually the one to take the 911 call on the recent double homocide). One thing I always tell people (and new dispatchers) is you never know what's gonna be on the other end of that incoming 911 call.......It could be anything......literally.......
To become proficient and or even to later excel at this job, takes years of experience and learning. Suffice it to say, you come out of training and hope to hell you don't get yourself fired before you can figure out what you've got yourself into. Of course there are people and resources there to help you through it, but there is quite a learning curve to go through. It's awhile before you even begin to start feeling comfortable with your ability to pick up that phone and say "911, what is your emergency?".
I very distinctly remember the first night that I felt I was actually doing "good". I had been there about a year......Really. A full year before I felt I was beginning to perform well. It was short-lived though because a few days later I screwed up and was smacked down for it. But anyways, even with that, I began to not only do well, but started to exceed the performance of others later on.
After two years on the job, I was promoted to 911 Communications Supervisor. I was very proud of this because this was an extremely quick promotion. Two years is hardly enough time to become proficient, much less be put in a position to direct the efforts of people with many more years of experience. I spent the next 4 years there as a supervisor and learned alot. I mean alot. I learned more as a supervisor than I would have learned spending the next 10 years as a dispatcher.
O.K., now I get an offer to be a General Manager at a steakhouse with a liitle bit more pay, and with lots more responsibility and eventually took the offer. I left the police dept. and went to that. After 2 years at the steakhouse, I realized that my ideals and philosophies were way too different than those of my superiors and made the decision to resign. It was a hard blow to my ego and definately to my wallet, but I felt it was the right thing to do. (Still feel that way by the way)
Now I'm back. Have to start at the bottom again, but that's o.k. Either way, I'm doing something I love and have no regrets. Anyways, I've been at it several months again now and am back in the swing of things. Lots of new toys to play with since I left but I think I've made it past the learning curve now and am doing well. So, now I'll get into the whole point.
Ever since I started, family, friends, and people I run into always have questions about what I do and the kinds of calls I take. I don't know how many times people have asked me, "Whats your favorite call", or " What's the worst call you've taken", or "Whats the funniest call?"......and on, and on., etc., etc.,. Although I certainly don't mind the questions, I've found it extremly hard to pick one or two calls to share out of a plethra of crazy, crazy, crap!! I mean to say, I've taken so, so many crazy calls, I've forgotten more hilarious, nerve-wracking, hideous, scary, heart-wrenching calls than I can possibly remember. The only way I can keep up, and the only way I can possibly answer all those questions is to start posting them while i still remeber them.
So now, just for you, I'm going to start a daily rant about the calls I take day to day. This was pretty long, but I had to get it off my chest. If you are still with me after all that, then kudos to you. Thanks for your attention. Please read my next post regarding my disclaimers. Of course with posting this info, I'm gonna have to hold back many things. Private info is a given, but I'm also going to limit anything I say regarding calls with ongoing ivestigations or high profile crimes that would have signifcant media interest. I'll go into that in my disclaimers post.
Anyways, hope ya'll find this stuff intersting.
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