"Forget it, it's motown."
Posted on 04/07/2006 9:26:39 AM PDT by XR7
Detroit Police Investigate
DETROIT -- A 6-year-old boy's 911 call for help was thought to be a prank, but the call was real and the boy's mother died, according to WDIV-TV in Detroit.
Robert Turner called 911 to get help for his mother, Sherel Turner, 46, whom he found lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of their Detroit apartment in February, the station reported.
"Then I had felt her tummy. She wasn't breathing. Then I had called 911," said Robert. "I told them to send an emergency truck right now."
911 Operator: "911. What's the problem?"
Robert: "My mom has passed out."
The 911 operator, however, did not take him seriously and told him to stop playing on the phone, the station reported.
911 Operator: "Where's the grownups at?"
Robert: (Inaudible)
911 Operator: "Let me speak to her before I send the police over there."
"I tried to tell them she wouldn't talk," said Robert.
Robert: (Inaudible)
911 Operator: "I don't care. You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble."
Robert: "Ugh!" (Hangs up.)
Kimberly Harris, the union president of AFSCME Local 1023, said more than a quarter of phone calls received by 911 operators are prank calls. She also said that everybody does not express their pain or emergencies the same way.
"That operator could have had five prank calls. Kids calling in prior to that call. And please, don't think that I am trying to make an excuse. That was a tragedy," said Harris.
Robert Turner
Officials said the 911 operator will be disciplined, but because of her years of service she will not be fired.
"I know that operator. I know that she is a very good operator," said Harris. "She is very thorough."
Robert said every time someone talks about his mother, he starts crying.
Police continue to investigate.
Then by all means, check the tapes.
What in the world? I thought that they still sent someone out to investigate prank calls?
I don't care if she's been on the job for 20 years. Her inaction possibly resulted in the death of a human being. Manslaughter charges and at least a wrongful death lawsuit should be appropriate.........
They do. A few years ago my daughter "accidently" dialed 911 and hung up.
The local Police were at my door a few minutes later. We had to prove to them that she was not in any danger.
My daughter learned that making prank phone calls can have consequences.
But she should be fired.
"Forget it, it's motown."
Huh?
They do where I live. And I'm in a tri state hub.
This is one time I hope for a lawsuit, a big one that this little kid can live on. And that dispatcher needs to go.
Get get up get down
911 is a joke in your town...
"What in the world? I thought that they still sent someone out to investigate prank calls?"
My department is small, but we go to every 911 call. Even if the dispatcher verifies that it is somebody playing with the phone. Larger departments like Detroit probably don't have the ability to do that. But this dispatcher should be suspended at the very least until the investigation is finished. Seems like common sense would tell somebody that a six year old probably will not be pranking 911.
""I know that operator. I know that she is a very good operator," said Harris. "She is very thorough."
And the mother is thoroughly dead.$%*)*%$@#UNIONS!!
And yet you are.
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