Did Officers Stop For White Castle "Sliders" En Route To 911 Calls? Husband Murdered Ronayle White

NBC5.com ^ | 05.22.02

[Coleus]

White Castle Security Tapes Subpoenaed In 911 Investigation

Did Officers Stop For "Sliders" En Route To Distress Call?

CHICAGO -- A lawyer representing the family of a woman who was murdered as she called 911 has subpoenaed videotapes from two fast food restaurants.

NBC5's Derrick Blakey reported that while it's only a tip, the attorney would like to see security tapes from White Castle restaurants at 103rd Street and Michigan Avenue, and at 11th and Halsted streets. They want to determine whether the first Chicago police officers assigned to respond to Ronayle White's distress call went for "sliders" instead.

"They do have a number of cameras at each store and (because) they are in good lighting, they're able to show the license plate numbers, occupants of cars and other identifying information," Richard Mallen, attorney for the White family, told NBC5.

According to Blakley, Mallen was reluctant to guess how credible the tip might be without seeing the videotape. But the 103rd St. White Castle is known to be a popular stop for Fifth District police, who often go there for food or coffee during their shift.

White made three 911 calls before she was shot to death by her estranged husband, but the first of three squad cars dispatched arrived last, 17 minutes after the initial call. What's more, police have no systematic data on response times, because most officers don't use squad-car computer terminals, called PDTs, to report their arrival at crime scenes.

"The department policy is to respond on the PDT on arrival at your assignment, as soon as you arrive there," Fraternal Order of Police president Mark Donahue said. Blakely reported that he was told that the first car assigned to White's distress call did just that, but most do not. Police said further that it's not an issue, citing that out of 2.7 million 911 calls last year, there were only 130 complaints of slow response.

But without regular use of the PDT's, Blakley pointed out, no one knows how many other times response may have been slow with no complaint filed.

"The use of those terminals can only improve safety and service," said Mallen. "I cannot understand why they would not be used."

Blakley looked at just how seldom the PDT's are used and inside sources indicated that they are used on far less than 10 percent of all calls.

Donahue, newly-elected to his position, said his union wouldn't object to installing more sophisticated satellite tracking gear that can pinpoint every squad car at all times. Blakley's sources told him that in the past, the FOP opposed that, claiming it was "a big brother"intrusion.

 

Where Were Cops During Ronyale White's 911 Calls?

White's Mother Speaks Publicly For First Time

CHICAGO --

	PREVIOUS ARTICLES Firing Recommended For Cops' Delayed Response (7/2) Police Present Findings In Ronyale White Investigation (6/10) Judge Puts Hold On Cell Phone Records In 911 Investigation (5/24) White Castle Security Tapes Subpoenaed In 911 Investigation (5/21) 911 Operator Defends Delayed Response To Call (5/16) Lawsuit Filed In Death Of Ronyale White (5/15) 911 Operators Suspended In Investigation Of Delayed Response (5/13) Report: Police Responded Late To 911 Calls (5/8)

The case of Ronyale White's murder grabbed headlines when it was reported that she had made repeated calls to 911 but was killed, allegedly by her estranged husband, before police responded to the scene.

In an exclusive report, Unit 5's Renee Ferguson revealed that one of the responding officers was allegedly not in the squad car, and the other one was checking his personal message on his home answering machine -- while they were supposed to be headed toward White's house.

In an interview with Ferguson, Ronyale White's mother spoke publicly for the first time about the murder and the police response.

"It makes me feel ill," Lorraine White said.

White said she still finds it difficult to think about the last frightened and violent moments of her daughter Ronyale's life.

"I can't imagine what my daughter went through," White said. "I can only think, visualize it in my mind, because it never goes away."

More difficult, she said, is understanding how her daughter's pleas for help on the night of May 3 went ignored by two officers who were reportedly two minutes away but took 16 minutes to arrive. By then, Ronyale had been beaten and shot twice in the head.

"Every day I close my eyes, I see her in that window," White said. "Feeling how she felt -- I don't know, but I have a horrible feeling in my gut every night I close my eyes. I don't want to see another woman go through what my daughter did."

In her first call to 911, Ronyale told an operator that her estranged husband, Louis Drexel, was in her home, and she needed police to come.

Moments later, Ronyale made another call for help. By that time, Unit 5 learned, the situation in her far-south-side home had escalated. According to an amended complaint filed Wednesday, the 911 operator "...heard Ronyale White get attacked and scream repeatedly..." and "...knew that Drexel had a gun and was threatening to shoot...White."

FeedRoom
	Evidence In The White Murder

Where were the two officers who were sent to the scene?

Court records allege that one of the responding officers was not even in his assigned car:

"(He) was engaged in recreational/social activities beyond, outside of, and/or in violation of his duties as a Chicago police officer."

The complaint alleges that the other officer "...had a history of not responding to calls where a potential for violence existed."

Unit 5 found another possible reason why the officer didn't respond to White's repeated 911 calls.

Documents allege that he was "...making phone calls of a personal nature... to his home answering machine to check his personal messages at the time... White was being attacked."

Unit 5 also learned that Chicago police have no written regulations instructing dispatchers to not hang up on a caller who's being threatened by a person with a gun. A police spokesman told Unit 5 that those regulations are being rewritten in the wake of Ronyale White's death.

The two responding officers, Ferguson reported, have been suspended, and Police Superintendent Terry Hillard recommended that they be fired.

 

Police Present Findings In Ronyale White Investigation

 

911 Operator Defends Delayed Response To Call

 

Firing Recommended For Cops' Delayed Response

 

Ebony: Dying for love: the epidemic of domestic abuse cases.

 

Lisa Madigan - Attorney General

 

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com - News

 

Chicago cop abuse

[Coleus]

I guess they had their donuts after their castles?

Lots of issues here: 2nd Amendment rights-Mrs. White as well as all Americans should have been allowed to own and carry a handgun to protect and defend herself and instead a judge issued a piece of paper (restraining order) to protect her which led to her murder.

911 dispatchers--seems they didn't do their job that effectively and there are communication breakdowns in other cities: last year 4 NYC teens died in a dingy which was taking on water and the dispatchers never notified the harbor patrol.

Police--I didn't see the results of the investigation but if the story is true that the police were at White Castle eating "agita burgers" instead of answering 3, 911 calls in a span of 17 minutes then they should be in jail.

Not all Cops are Lazy and indifferent, Please

Help block parole of convicted New Jersey cop-killer!

Fair Lawn, NJ officer killed in shootout

 

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[Coleus]

.

[mvpel]

Police--I didn't see the results of the investigation but if the story is true that the police were at White Castle eating "agita burgers" instead of answering 3, 911 calls in a span of 17 minutes then they should be in jail.

They should be, but they won't be - under the law in most states the police have no legal duty to provide protection to any particular individual under most circumstances. See the book Dial 911 And Die for specific legal references.

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[AdamSelene235]

Victim: Deprived of the most basic human right of self defense.

Perp: Armed anyway

Cops: Indifferent or actively destroying the Constitution under color of authority.

Nice, real nice.

[blackie]

Be Well ~ Be Armed ~ Be Safe ~ Molon Labe!

[stlnative]

Where I come from they are not called Sliders, they are called Belly Bombers (in the St. Louis Area)

[dead]

The cops can make a reasonable claim that the stop was necessary if they were drunk.

Nobody can drive by a White Castle drunk.

[Tacis]

In general, you can bet a guy is dirty when the first person to speak on his behalf is the president of his union.

[Maceman]

[joesnuffy]

They should computer chip the cops...keep a GPS record of their stops...as well as their squads computer...recording their stops and locations...time between calls...time to get to the scene
etc..

Then discipline accordingly...if anyone should be under the watchfull eye of the satelitte or computer it should be "public servants"
Accountability...to the public..who pays their wages...

[Donna Lee Nardo]

This is one horrendous story. All negligent officers involved in this should be fired and jailed. My prayers for the victim and her Mom and other family members and friends.

[Rollee]

Thank you for posting this information. Unfortunately, there are thousands of cases like this in Chicago/Cook County.

I was told this weekend by several members of CPD (at a party) that "we have no problem with you carrying, but we don't want the blacks carrying". I asked what is the difference between me, a white 40-something woman, homeowner, wants to protect family & property, law abiding citizen and a black 40-something woman, homeowner, wants to protect family & property, also a law abiding citizen?

I did't get an answer other than "well, you know" and a change of subject.

Carrying is a hot button issue with all of us Freepers in the People's Republic of Illinois. I don't know how to ping by state, otherwise I would.

[Myrddin]

The police have no duty to protect you.

Read "Dial 911 and Die" for a detailed state by state assessment. There is no valid case against the police officers.

[theFIRMbss]

>In general, you can bet a guy is dirty when the first person to speak on his behalf is the president of his union

Well, you can also make some shrewd bets based on who libertarians decide to attack on almost every issue. (The "Manson" factor...)

[FITZ]

It seems instead of protective order where she believed the police could be depended on to save her life, she should have gotten a gun for her protection --- and used it when he came into the house.

[beelzepug]

"Where I come from they are not called Sliders, they are called Belly Bombers (in the St. Louis Area)"

When I was a teenager (Jurassic period), "sliders" refered to really greasy french fries. (NW Wash. state)

[PAR35]

I'm not as willing as NBC to accept allegations by a plaintiff's attorney as fact. It may be true, it may just be an effort to sway public opinion prior to a jury trial.

[Coleus]

Exercising the Right, to KEEP and BEAR Arms