Posted on 02/09/2012 10:04:54 AM PST by Former Fetus
Nearly eight minutes elapsed between when a social worker called 911 to report that Josh Powell's children were in danger and when sheriff's deputies were dispatched, emergency call logs show. The home was a gas-fueled inferno - with Powell and his two young boys inside - by the time officers were on their way.
Several minutes of response time was lost when the priority of the dispatch Sunday was listed as "routine" instead of "emergency." There was nothing deputies could do when they arrived 14 minutes later.
>>SNIP<<
After getting it straight, the dispatcher told her someone would come, though he wasn't sure when. Moments later, the house erupted in flames.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
What an awful experience that must have been for you! Yes, when you listen to the call, the social worker sounds very calm. So apparently being able to hold it together in an emergency gets you put on the low priority list for 911.
911 call doesn’t sound like someone watching 3 people die in a fire. Sounds like someone covering their sorry ass. Not to impressed with the 911 operator either. Told that Powell grabbed the kids and shut the door in this lame-o’s face asks “Do you think he did it intentionally?”
Fire the dispatcher. After this they cannot be trusted.
Most people who complain about police response time don’t realize or forget the step where that police have to be dispatched to a call by someone......sadly the requirements on ability and performance for dispatchers these days is about on par with unionized public school teachers. Most dispatchers shouldn’t be dispatchers.
There are many ‘public safety’ workers who do their very best in attempting to make quick decisions/judgements. Perhaps they should work in a ‘buddy’ system - where calls are monitored by another opinion; someone who can summon help rather than ask questions.
The Josh Powell situation was originally mishandled by the custody judge who should have insisted that visitations be in a neutral, public playground/restaurant or childcare center. As a ‘person of interest’ in his wife’s murder - Josh Powell’s name should have been on 911’s radar.
The woman assigned to the visitation supervision showed good judgement, reflexes and courage. She is just one more victim of Josh Powell’s evil.
Don’t want to excuse them-—but my understanding is 911 operators are trained to keep the caller on the line.
So what seems to be inane questions could be the way-—however inept-—to keep the caller talking.
Keep in mind, the 911 center does not know who is calling-—could even be a perp.
There might also a need to get directions in rural locations.
In some 911 centers when a person calls, the address and phone number where they are calling from appears on a screen.
In the Powell tragedy, the caller was obviously not at the address of the inferno.
Dang 911 system. I called form my cell phone a couple of weeks ago to report a foreign vehicle on my property.
I didn’t notice until about an hour after the situation was done that my cell phone was disabled. I could not use it or place a call. I had to power it off and reboot.
Big Brother has forced the cell companies into installing total control software into the phones I PAY FOR.
With some experience in this type of situation, why on earth was supervised visitation allowed at his home. I was given custody of my niece after her mothers suspicious death. All supervised visitations took place at the children’s service facility. He would visit her there, there was a two way window, where he was observed during the one hour visit. If this would have been the order, those kids would still be alive.
****911 call doesn’t sound like someone watching 3 people die in a fire.****
She called before the fire exploded. She called because she smelled gasoline and Powell had locked the children in the house and would not let her inside. The killer beat the children before he set the house on fire. IMHO she showed remarkably good instincts and presence of mind. Her grace under pressure was misread by the dispatcher - perhaps she should have been more hysterical.
Oh yes. Let’s blame the social worker. We don’t know how long she knocked on the door trying to get back in. We need to continue to blame the dick who actually killed his kids and not start blaming others like we always do. There is no way even 8 minutes would have changed anything. I suppose I could be wrong but I doubt it.
The blame falls directly on the court system, who obviously knew this guy was capable of murder. Please read my post #9. There are measures that needed to be taken to protect these kids. But the court system and children’s service always protect the relationship between the parent and child. They rule “in the best interest of the child” which is a joke. Their liberal rules killed these boys.
Beat them? I thought he whacked them with an axe.
I’m curious. Did you ever call and report the domestic violence happening next door to you?
My question is what would Law Enforcement have accomplished had they responded and arrived before the house blew up? In similar cases of this type, the first thing LE tries to do is establish contact with the person/persons inside the home. Considering the father had planned his murder/suicide prior to the children arriving, I doubt LE would have been able to prevent him from carrying out his plan. The ONLY way to have saved the two boys would have been to deny the father access in the first place.
She could very easily have been inside that house. I used to be her in a pervious career. Never again. That's a dangerous job. You never know what you'll be walking into. You're out there by yourself and are at the mercy of these freaks every day and night. I had my eyes opened about judges. I don't trust any of them further than I can throw them. I never saw one make an intelligent decision.
Thanks for sharing. We have become very critical of ‘Government employees’ using the stereotype of overpaid cube squatting paper shufflers or interfering do gooders.
There are so many ‘government’ intrusions in our lives that we fail to separate the necessary from the useless. The foot soldiers are deserving of gratitude - the bureaucrats not so much.
“I don’t trust any of them further than I can throw them.”
I feel bad for the grandparents as well. It sounds like they were fearful for the kid’s safety, but also wanted to abide by the court’s ruling and the visitation. And assumed that with the case-worker there it would be okay.
As a law-abiding person most of the time I would probably have done the same thing. (The grandmother said the kids didn’t want to go, but she convinced them to go as she wanted to comply with the court order).
However, more and more I have been putting the safety of me and my family above what the law says. This sad case only furthers that thought.
Oh, the tales I could tell about how judges’ decisions put these kids at risk... I shouldn’t tell much on a public forum but I’ve posted this before. One time it was already known how the judge was going to rule which angered me and the hispanic community. They had the bruja put a curse on the judge and everyone involved. But not me, she had me sit with her to make a point to the judge. He didn’t even let us give the state’s side. He couldn’t be bothered. The judge left the little child with the abusive parents and put them in counseling with the priest who was also being brought on on similar charges. Does that not blow your mind?
It’s gotta be ridiculously difficult to be in any phase of law enforcement anymore what with the evil that lurks in our society today. How does a God fearing person even imagine what goes on in real life is possible.
That said, this is still more proof that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. Arm up folks, if you haven’t already.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.