The City of Plantation, Florida is dealing with a national fervor over the failure of police to respond quickly enough to a desperate call from Olidia Kerr Day, 45, who ended up dying in their parking lot. Day was bring pursued by her homicidal and suicidal ex-boy friend, Carlos Cevallos, 48.
The transcript below is quite chilling. Yet,
The City of Plantation, Florida is dealing with a national fervor over the failure of police to respond quickly enough to a desperate call from Olidia Kerr Day, 45, who ended up dying in their parking lot. Day was bring pursued by her homicidal and suicidal ex-boy friend, Carlos Cevallos, 48.
The transcript below is quite chilling. Yet, Chief Larry Massey said that the dispatcher did “fine.”
Later, however, the head of the communications system has been fired, click here.
Plantation police spokesman Phil Toman said “As far as I’ve heard, she did fine.”
Later, however, the head of the communications system has been fired, click here.
The fact is that there may not have been much that they could have done, but there was certainly a lot of useless interjections in the exchange.
For example, continuing to ask “How do you know him?” seems a bit stupid when she is screaming that she needs to be intercepted as soon as possible.
For the full transcript, click here.
The system failed Olidia Viera Kerr Day. There could have been police officers at the door or even sitting in their police cars near the gate ready to handle this crazed man Carlos Cevallos before he had a chance to shoot her.
I just saw the story on 20/20 today and this enrages me!!!!! I live here but not born here and what happened to Olidia (RIP) shouldn’t be taken lightly from the people of Florida or anyone. My greatest fear in life is HUMAN ERROR or just plain stupidity of other’s mistake. The acts of the dispatcher and the Plantation Police is immoral. This should never have happened and could have easily been avoided. I will not get this story or the seen and voice of Olidia out of my mind.
Florida really needs to gain more intelligence. I mean, for God’s sake, we are still counting ballots after one month of the election, that’s how stupid Florida is. Although, the weather is nice.
You can;t see me right now but I am wearing a “TEAM OLIDIA” shirt and sticking my middle finger out to the dispatcher who told Olidia to “stop yelling & calm down while being chased down to be killed. The dispatcher is a moron & her chief on duty is one too. Ugh! I can go one… Sorry to Olidia;s family. We all understand your frustrations but we will never know the pain you suffered. Olidia will stay in our hearts!!!!!!!
I completely disagree with some of the commenters here. U can clearly hear her and the Sunrise dispatcher say she is looking for the Plantation police dpt. She states she is on 5th/70th. Then the Sunrise dispatcher also states to that other moron from plantation that it gonna be a certain code-armed kiddnapping. She states she is looking for the police station. But then after being transferred to sunrise one-that was a mistake. Sunrise tries to get ahold of plantation-mistake 2-the dispatcher seemed more concerned about other things then gathering the information. The victim clearly states she is near the police station in an accord. Dont you think she should have notified someone in the office right then and there. There is a great deal of Negligence on the part of this dispatcher. Unfortunately, this poor woman died because the system that was supposed to help her failed.
Thank you for useful information. Waiting for new posts.
I do a lot of number crunching for these types of games because I feel that the past will usually give us an idea of what will happen in the future. As you know it may be hard to decipher the winning team in the NFL. This is the main reason why I like using trends for basketball.
Is this a trend in that area with police dispatchers in that area?
http://deniseamberlee.org/
She didn’t know where she was or where she was going. I’ve listened to the call several times and read the transcript. It took her exactly 1 min and 2 seconds just to tell the calltaker a street she was on. When she finally said Plantation Police Dept the calltaker in Sunrise did the right thing and transferred her over. Even Olidia’s own daughter has stated that her mother was well aware of where the Plantation Police Department was. It was beside her daughters dentist office where she had taken her several times. Her daughter also said that Olidia had several friends that were police officers and had gone to the station to visit sometimes. Also, it was stated that Olidia was a mere 12 blocks away from the police station. Not nearly enough time (the entire 911 call was only 3 min 24 sec not to mention it took 1 min 2 sec to say a street then she had bounced to the wrong county) to have an officer intercept her when it took her that long to give them a street name. But I did hear that they did alert an officer and he actually fired at the suspects vehicle. I don’t know if that’s true. That’s the thing people don’t realize about cell phones. They don’t tell us exactly where you are. In fact, we get a lot of cell phone calls for other counties that are routed to us through cell towers for any number of reasons. We have no idea where you are calling from. Now that we have Phase II (meaning we can see a radius of where you are more acurately) it takes a good 30 seconds for that information to pop up. Do you know what we get? Longitudes and latitudes. We then have to plug that into a map to see where you are. Where I work we have a 911 Telecommunications course that we have to pass. We go to the Police Academy for 2 weeks for training. We have to have training each month to keep up our 911 certifications. There is no US standard and I believe there should be one and technology should be the same for EVERY 911 center, not just the most populated. It’s based on the County’s policies and procedures. Once again, the family should not have let him in the house. But that’s just me knowing what I would do in the situation. It was just a tragic murder.
Sara…
This is for you…I think you need to do some research before you make comments like: “Olidia was asked her location. SHE DIDN’T KNOW. She couldn’t even tell them what police department she was driving to.” NOT TRUE SARA, READ THE TRANSCRIPT BELOW.
Not only did the operator screw this up, she put herself & the other officers in danger, especially Officer Amy Weitzel.
And oh by the why, the supervisor who trained this operator got fired, not for Olidia’s case, (although it is believed by most, to be the straw that broke the camels back) but for her poor performance on the job according to the Sheriff. Google her name: Lori Fletcher. She was disliked so much that employees have written the truth about her & told many stories on LEO AFFAIRS:
The thread is labeled “Ding, Dong”
http://forums.leoaffairs.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=65016
Also read some of the threads from the Dispatcher link at LEO:
http://forums.leoaffairs.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=69570
I am also very sick of hearing that 911 operators do this from the goodness of their hearts. The truth is you all are under paid & are working with a 40 year old system that needs to catch up with today’s technology.
It’s time for all 911 operators to stand up & say, yes we save lives, but we desperately need help to reform this 40 year old system; upgrade the technology, give us the tools and standardized training across the country.
We have Police Academy’s…Criminal Law Courses…CSI Classes… why not a 911 Emergency Operation Training Course? Make it a Vocational Course so it’s affordable.
Where will we get the money? What about the taxes we pay for 911 on all phones, where does that go? It’s time to get a full accounting from every source.
You operators know what you need, someone stand up & take the lead, please, instead of trashing the dead and the grieving family left behind.
Also in regards to your comment about what the family did or did not do…you really have no clue, because you were not there.
HERE IS THE 911 TRANSCRIPT OF OLIDIA KERR DAY
Sunrise operator: Sunrise 911. Where is your emergency?
Day: Listen, please. Don’t hang up, and listen to me. I’ve been taken out of my house at gunpoint. I’m gonna head to the, I’m gonna head to the police station.
Sunrise: What is, What is, what is the, what is the address?
Day: Please, I am on the road. He’s got me all threatened and my kids.
Sunrise: Ma’am, what is the address?
Day: I don’t have it. I’m just, I’m getting… I’m getting right now to the, to the, I’m going right now to the police department.
Sunrise: Which police department?
Day: I was able to talk to him. And I’m going to go inside.
Sunrise: Ma’am, Ma’am. You need to slow down, because I don’t know where you are. Which police department?
Day: I don’t know. Please help me! Where is the, where is the police station here in Plantation? I don’t know, I’m lost.
Sunrise: Hold on for Plantation police. Hold on. Hold on for one second.
Day: Please hurry!
Sunrise: Hold on.
Day: Oh God.
Call transferring
Sunrise: Ma’am hold on for one second. Just stay on the line. I’m going to do the talking, OK? Stay on the line.
Day: Please hurry!
Sunrise: Please, Ma’am.
Plantation 911 operator: 911. Do you have an emergency?
Sunrise: Plantation this is Sunrise with a transfer. It sounds like it’s possibly going to be for a signal 24, signal 0. (armed kidnapping)
Day: Hurry! Please!
Plantation: OK, what’s the address?
Sunrise: She doesn’t have the address. I’m trying to look it up.
Day: Where is Plantation?
Sunrise: Hold on, I’m trying to look it up for you, Plantation. Stay online for one second
Day: Where is the Plantation Police Department? Please! Tell somebody to intercept me. Tell somebody to intercept me on, on Fifth Street, on Fifth Street and 70th Street! Please hurry?
Plantation: OK, what’s the problem ma’am?
Day: Please, he’s got me at gunpoint and shooting, shooting at me.
Plantation: OK?
Day: He came to my house and took me out of my shower and now I’m …
Plantation: How do you know him?
Day: Please, he’s going to kill me! God.
Plantation: Ma’am, do you know him?
Day: Yes, his name is Carlos Cevallos.
Plantation: OK, is he… habla Espanol? (Do you speak Spanish?)
Day: Si, senora. El es un senor que esta enamorado de mi, pero (yes, ma’am. He is a man who is in love with me, but)
Plantation: OK, un momento. Un momento. Dime algo. Adonde está pa ahorita? (Ok, one moment. One moment. Tell me something. Where are you at right now?)
Day: Estoy en la cinco! En la cino! (I’m on Fifth! On Fifth!)
Sunrise: She’s about the 6300 block of, I want to say about 10th.
Day: I’m … right now. I’m trying to get to the Plantation Police Department to walk in but I’m not sure. He’s accelerating on me now! He’s going to kill me, man! I don’t know here you are!
Plantation: OK, I’m getting. I’m getting – Just a second ma’am. Where are you?
Day: (inaudible shouting) … Hurry!
Plantation: Hold on one second, ma’am. I’m going to get officers there. What kind of car are you in?
Day: I’m a Honda Accord! Please, hurry!
Plantation: Listen. Stop yelling because I can’t help you if you’re yelling.
Day: I don’t know. I’m stuck now. I’m stuck now. Help, he’s going to kill me!
Plantation (speaking to someone in her office): Jenny, what call are you dispatching?
Day screams from a distance
Sunrise: Plantation?
More distant screaming
Plantation: (inaudible)… Hello?
Sunrise: Stand by on land line … Plantation? … Hello, Plantation?
Plantation: Shots fired. Hold on one second.
Matt: You are a piece of shit. Sara, if you agree with his statements, likewise.
I’m not saying the incident was/was not the fault of the dispatcher. I will say that she could have handled the situation better.
My condolences to the family of Olidia. You wll be in my thoughts and my prayers.
~Sasha
I am a 911 Telecommunicator and have been for over 8 years. We recieve training every single month. We’ve been taught how to deal with frantic people. It’s hard to deal with frantic people, however, when they won’t answer your questions. Some callers you just can’t get the correct information out of no matter what amount of training you’ve had. Trust me. It happens. Matt wasn’t attacking the grieving family. He was correct. Not burned out, just being honest. If you’re not a 911 telecommunicator then you have no right to make an assumption of what should have/could have been done. Olidia was asked her location. SHE DIDN’T KNOW. She couldn’t even tell them what police department she was driving to. Even with Phase II cell phone compliance there would have been NO time to get an officer to her in time. 3 minutes? When she didn’t know where she was, where she was going? If the police station is anything like any of the 7 police stations we have, there is only a telecommunicator on duty, not a police officer. If there was an officer present and she was taking a break, as it has been reported, then that is just bad luck. Stop trying to place the blame on the telecommunicator, she did the best she could with what she had to work with. When someone doesn’t know their location or where they’re going, telecommunicators have no crystal ball to tell them otherwise. She could have kept driving around, stayed in her car, kept it motion until a police officer got to her. Stopping was her biggest mistake. It’s not Olidia’s fault, it’s not the telecommunicators fault nor is it the police departments fault. It was a tragic murder. I believe, also, that I read that the family thought he was creepy and tried to warn her about him. Then when he shows up while she’s in the shower, the family lets him in? Then lets him go into the bedroom where they know she’s taking a shower? How about, “She’s not home.” Shut the door. Call the police. See, a dozen of things could have been done differently and she may still be alive. Stop placing blame on telecommunicators, they did what they could. Nevermind the millions of lives telecommunicators save. They’re only recognized for ones that couldn’t be saved.
For those that are interested about the truth & 911 reform, watch Dr. Phil on Friday, Dec 12th. Not only is Olidia’s son Edward is on it with his Aunt Ada, but Nathan Lee, husband of Denise Amber Lee, will be on. This is a must see.
Here is the show’s description:
Friday – December 12, 2008
911 Nightmares!
Imagine that you’ve fallen, had a terrible accident or been abducted, and your only lifeline is 911. What happens if you call and can’t get the help you need or emergency personnel are sent to the wrong address?America’s 911 system handles nearly 240 million calls per year, and the growing number of dispatch disasters can be a matter of life or death. Edward and Ada know about this pain firsthand. They lost their loved one, Olidia, to a murder-suicide in the parking lot of a police station after what they say was a botched 911 call. Edward says his mom’s death could have been prevented, and Ada believes the operator was rude to her sister in the final moments before her murder. Joining Dr. Phil to discuss the tragedy are Charlie Cullen from the National Emergency Number Association and Caroline Burau, a 911 dispatcher and author of Life in the Hot Seat. Find out the most important piece of information you need to know when calling for help. Then, Nathan’s wife, Denise Amber Lee, was abducted, and a series of 911 calls — even one placed by Denise herself — failed to save the young mom’s life. Jane, a witness to Denise’s abduction, was on the line with 911 for more than nine minutes … but police were never dispatched. Now Nathan says he’s angry with the system and has trouble explaining Denise’s death to their two young sons. What can the grieving father do to move past the pain? And, learn what constitutes a genuine emergency, and what to teach your kids about dialing those three important numbers.
What Makes Me sick are people like Matt (A True Idiot) who attacks people who are greiving, The Fact is the Dispatcher is the one who is supposed to be trained to get the caller to calm down, repetitive persistince is trained in order to achieve this, Matt you are a moron, how in the hell can you expect a caller to be calm in a situation such as that, with someone who is crazed shooting at them, quite amazing your statements are.
I don’t know if you are a dispatcher, 911 calltaker or what,(If you are then you sound very burnt out and need to quit) but it is obvious you have no clue as to what the standards are, there are set standards for Police, Fire, and EMS Dispatching, Hours of training for situations such as this, but to tell a person that has no training to be calm while talking on the phone is absurd, it is the dispatchers responsibility to calm the caller down, this dispatcher was probably very overworked, stressed, and certainly underpaid, granted i think she should not be a scapegoat, but the comm manager definately need to be. whoever was at Plantation PD could have reacted differently, and they should have played back the tapes (which can be done instantly) to figure out any more clues as to her location.)
It would not have mattered if she would have stayed in the car or not as her car was probably not bullet proof.
How about coming out of your loser life and growing a little compassion
What also sickens me is money grubbers like Maria Williams who spend all their time blaming Florida because she can’t bring herself to find any fault in her family member. (Shocker there..right?)
The story and dateline is littered with misleading statements, as is Maria’s statement. She didn’t ask for help for 4 minutes, she was on the phone period for 4 minutes. There is no magic button that lets the police know what is happening, where you are, and how to get to you.
At what point did they know she was at the police station? EVEN OLIVIA DIDN’T KNOW WHERE SHE WAS!!!
This is just ludicrous.. it is beyond belief that people find fault with the dispatchers here. They simply didn’t have enough time to calm her down and get to the details.. You can’t have it both ways.. You can’t blame the dispatcher for not having her wits about her and knowing the unknown and then give Olivia a free pass for the same simply because she is tragically dead.
There were maybe 2 minutes at best before she was murdered in cold blood before the call could have been transferred to the proper dispatch because of how frantic Olivia was. And even then the police department would have had to have prepared to intercept this lunatic chasing her… and she just didn’t give them enough time by driving straight into a gate, in a panic to reach some magic video game safe zone..
She should have stayed in the car, stayed mobile until a cop was found that could have taken out this mad man.. and because she panicked, we’re here trying to place the blame.
What makes me sick is how people like Sarah always want to blame the police or Government and have them sued.. Well where do you think the money will come from SARAH?
Huh SARAH?
The taxpayers.
Were non-pertinent qestions asked? Yes, but pertinent questions such as “where are you” were answered with “PLEASE HURRY”
You HAVE to be calm. You have to remain in your vehicle at a safe distance.. She knew he had a gun, she clearly feared he was going to kill her..and she drove herself into a situation where she was stuck, and then ran out of the car and was shot dead.
It’s terrible, it’s tragic, but she is more responsible for her death BY FAR.. BY FAR than the dispatcher or police.
As usual though, we need to have vitriol and blame, and it goes to the establishment more so than even the perp. That’s what sickens me.
She needed to calmly explain to the dispatcher.. she could have said in a calm voice, scared, shaking, but CALM, non-shouting “Listen carefully please, a man came to my house, abducted me to kill me, he has a gun, I escaped in my car, and he is chasing me. I am now driving to the police department, I need to be intercepted.”
THEN she needed to SHUT..THE..HELL..UP..and answer every question given to her, swiftly and calmly.
And she didn’t.. and she’s dead.. and it’s sad, but a lesson to be learned. Don’t blame innocent people like the dispatcher and have their heads and ruin their lives because they couldnt get to this frantic, irrational woman in THREE MINUTES AND FORTY FIVE SECONDS before she foolishly allowed herself to be in a position where a mad man with a gun was able to kill her.
Obviously that’s harsh, obviously she deserved better.. but the facts are the facts, and if she had not been frantic or panicked, she almost certainly would be alive today.. I mean she drove into a gate and let herself get trapped.. COME ON.
The fact that this police dispatcher had a HISTORY of bad 911 calls and then this woman dies because she was asking inane questions like “where are you” when the woman has told you several times that she is driving toward the police station is just ridiculous. Emergencies happen quickly ALL THE TIME (that is the nature of an emergency) which is why you need operators who have the ability to think quickly on their feet. Olidia Kerr’s death sits squarely in the police department’s hands. That woman should have been fired – Chief Massey had wanted her fired in 2007 because of racial slurs she made, yet somehow she didn’t get fired for letting a woman DIE because she was too busy asking her if she spoke Spanish (which, btw, was totally irrevelant because Olidia was entirely bilingual). The Kerr family should sue them for restitution. This makes me sick.
Maria, I am so sorry for your loss. Please visit http://www.deniseamberlee.org
we are trying to make changes In Regards to 911.
we can all come together in helping the system for all.
— Debbie Barnes wrote:
> I apologize if anyone receiving the following message is not interested. I thought it was important to share. My ex sister in law, Olidia Kerr Day was murdered in front of the Plantation PD by a stalker. This has devastated this family, I encourage you all to watch 20/20 and do what you can to keep yourselves safe in this day and age.
>
> Feel free to copy and paste in an email and send to anyone you feel may be interested. I feel very strongly about this and again, apologize that I’ve invaded your email with something that is so serious but I want everyone to be more aware of what can happen and has happened so close to home. The info written below is from one of her sisters. If you wish to visit her memory of website: http://olidia-viera-kerr-day.memory-of.com/About.aspx
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> Thanks,
> Debbie Barnes
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> PS: I’ve been emailing the FL Attorney General, Bill McCollum in regards to this story and he doesn’t even have the courtesy to email me back & I know he has read the emails.
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> ——————————————————————————–
> Please forward to your friends, your family and all your state attorneys.
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> Good Morning everyone, as you know my sister Olidia Kerr Day was brutally murdered April 25, 2008; in front of the Plantation Police Department where she went for help after a man took her out of her house at gun point. My sister Olidia pleaded and begged with the 911 operator for over 3 minutes asking for someone to help her and intercept her and letting them know that she was on her way to the police station. Olidia never got that help. The 911 operator never dispatched the call that would have alerted the police at the Plantation police department instead the operator asked her frivolous that wasted precious time.
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> We are taught from a very young age to dial 911 for help and then as we get older we are taught that every second counts in saving a life, if that is so, then Olidia did everything she could to save herself and no one was listening to her we feel she was let down.
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> As a result of my sister Olidias murder ABC 20/20 has decided to do a show about her and the lack of training for 911 operators across the country. This 20/20 episode will air Friday September 19, 2008. ABC 20/20 will have the details of her murder and investigation or lack thereof; they have also reenacted the murder using my sister’s actual car. I am asking that you please forward this email to everyone you know so they too can see it. The purpose for the interview is to bring awareness; we don’t want this to happen to any other family. This man not only killed my sister, he has brought havoc to our whole family, my mother has had 2 heart surgeries since my sister Olidia was murdered. It is unbearable to hear her cry and to see my family in such pain. My sisters are all dealing with either physical or emotional problems and Olidias children will never be the same, as much as we try to be there for them, they have brutally lost their mother and feel a great sense of loss.
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> If knowledge is Power, then this 20/20 episode will help to bring awareness so that the way 911 operators are trained can change. Their needs to be different protocol for a call about a burglary, or a call where a woman is telling you she was taken out of her house at gun point and the man following her is shooting at her.
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> Because this happened at the police station there was video of Olidias murder and we saw my sister being killed, I saw her fall, I heard her cries for help not being answered, I heard her scream as she fell to the floor, and I know this can happen to anyone but I never want anyone else to live through such a senseless loss. Please help me in spreading the word so that no one else should ever have to suffer like this wondering what if.
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> 20/20 chose to show case Olidias murder because this scene has played out across the country over and over again. We must all work to ensure change in the way 911 operators are trained and how they respond to calls. If a police officer would have been outside waiting for her it may or may not have saved her life but we will never get a chance to find out. Please help us spread this information so that no one else has to live with this horrific pain.
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> Thank you
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> Maria Williams
Apparently it’s ok to post a story unchecked of the facts.
As a family member, we have maintained all along that Carlos Cellavos was not Olidia’s “boyfriend”. He was an acquaintance she knew only a few weeks. He worked at the local grocery store.
This assumption that the incident was domestic clearly was a factor in the response by 911 and the police.
related
For the record the killer was an acquaintance she only knew a few weeks. He worked in the meat department in a local grocery store. He apparently became obsessed with her and stalked her. He failed to show up for work the week before as a no call-no show. What was he doing that week? This was clearly a premeditated act.
While probably no one could have saved her, I feel she believed in the system, thinking she could escape to safety. She led the gunman away from her home, away from her 3 children & boyfriend, saving their lives. Cevallos was plenty prepared with amo to take any one out who got in his way.
Not only did 911 fail her, so did the police, especially Plantation. The desk officer was not at her post, she was hanging with boyfriend in the lobby. Only when she saw Olidia running for door bleeding, did she realize the situation. The officer called out to the dirt bag & fires a warning shot, while he is standing over her, ready to finish Olidia off. Then the officer fires another shot that misses. All of this was captured on cameras & painfully viewed by the family. This video of course while never see the light of day.
The officer is entitled to her break, but don’t officers carry a radio? When was the last time this officer was certified at the gun range? Was she the only one at the station? Did 911 dispatch anyone? The police where there once they had the bodies, I understand fairly quickly. I think the police & 911 assumed that this was a typical domestic situation and that they may not respond to these calls with a sense of urgency. Aren’t the police supposed serve & protect all people? Especially women. We all are really anxious for Plantation’s internal report which now is almost 7 weeks & waiting. This is not the first murder-suicide that has affected the Plantation Police Station: http://www.nbc6.net/news/9633412/detail.html
Chief Larry Massey fired the supervisor of the Plantation 911.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbdispatch0604sbjun04,0,6947139.story
I think this was a good move as this 911 operator she trained & supervised clearly choked. I don’t understand why the operator that took this call, still has job: http://www.ems1.com/ems-products/dispatch-equipment/articles/402896-Fla-911-dispatcher-in-incident-has-spotty-record
Yes, I read enough the Olidia was frantic & screaming, that was clear, but it is 911 job to get to have a sense of urgency from “Please, he’s got me at gunpoint and shooting, shooting at me.”
It is clear that 911 training needs to be standardized across the country. Charlotte County Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Goff, whose daughter, Denise Amber Lee, was murdered by a sicko, might have been saved by a 911 call that was botched. I understand he is lobbying to affect this change. I hope that he would contact our family for any support in this matter.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24063588/
Related
This seems to be a trend with these 911 dispatchers. They get caught up in non-important issues or get angry with the caller instead of getting help to the person asap. If I remember correctly Chicago had a recent case where the dispatcher hung up on the caller!