STATter 911: Calling 911 when you are an elected official

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Calling 911 when you are an elected official

DC City Council photo

After hearing the details of a December 14 emergency call from some sources working at the District of Columbia Office of Unified Communications (OUC), the city's 911 center, I had my colleagues at 9NEWS NOW request a copy of the recording through the Freedom of Information Act.

This is not a fire call. It is a call for police service. The caller is DC Councilmember David Catania. The call was first mentioned in a Washington Times article on December 15 , covering a hearing about the city's 911 service. From that article it was made clear that this call did not go well, and Councilmember Catania complained about the level of service he received.

STATter 911 and 9NEWS NOW have covered many issues at OUC, particularly delays in alerting DC Fire and EMS to emergency calls. We are still trying to get some answers, and the recording of the fire at the Old Executive Office Building last week. In that case there has been no explanation why the call was dispatched to the wrong street address.

But on the 911 call made by David Catania, there are many who dispute that the problem was solely at OUC. Now that the 911 call is out, you get to be the judge. Listen for yourself.

Listen to Councilmember David Catania's call to 911

Read wusa9.com story written by Bill Starks

# posted by Dave Statter @ 6:01 PM

Comments:

If he would have just calmed down and talked normal he may have got help faster. The communication operator can only help you when they understand you.

# posted by

JBA : December 26, 2007 7:32 PM

I have to say, as much as it kills me, but the operator did not sound like she did anything wrong. I agree with the first comment, if the councilmember had calmly relayed the appropriate information, the operator would have relayed that information to the dispatcher to get an officer there ASAP. He was more worried about getting the operators name and number. WAS he intoxicated?

As a former member of DCFEMS, I know how screwed up the OUC is. They are generally rude, and take forever in getting calls out, dispatching appropriate units, and to the correct addresses.

However, I think the councilmen is now using his political pull to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Being a dispatcher is a hard job, I think operator 1040 handled it fairly well, (except for maybe asking if he was intoxicated!) Not sure if that's in OUC protocol checklist...

# posted by

Anonymous : December 26, 2007 10:18 PM

The "Councilman" is a complete embarassment to the City. After listening to the recording it is clear that he does not understand how to make a 911 call, he does no understand basic courtesy, and he does not understand the pressure the dispatchers are under. If he has an ounce of responsibility he would apologize to the dispatcher -- of course he is a self promoting hack so that will not happen.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 7:38 AM

He should be made to work one shift answering these calls. I am glad to see that he has stepped forward to bring this to our attention. The public is unaware of what they sound like when they call for an emergency. Typically they sounf like the councilman and you cannot get the right address out of the person. This then causes more problems for the Police and Fire Department when they repsond to the wrong address.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 9:35 AM

She did fine. She also did an outstanding job of keeping her focus on the call and attempting to obtain the information. He was a mess and should not persue this incident any longer. If he has a problem with 911, he can find plenty of other, truely fouled instances in which the operators have done poorly. (please parden any spelling errors)

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 9:46 AM

It was a battle of 2 massive egos & nobody won. Only the victim suffered...both of them should be extremely embarassed listening to this recording.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 10:10 AM

councilman was to scared to act, he should have rescued the person who needed the help, instead he cowardly took it out on the dispatcher. I thought he had balls

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 11:01 AM

the councilman was to scared to help the person in need, instead he cowardly took it out on the dispatcher. she did a great job. get some balls, and do something instead of BS-ing your way to something you have NO knowledge off.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 11:05 AM

He was not helpful at all, he was not cool at all, down right rude to the call taker. She sounded like she was attempting to obtain additional information that would have been helpful to responding units. The real question is how long after he called 911 was the call dispatched, and how long did it take for units to get on scene?

# posted by

Lizard : December 27, 2007 3:17 PM

The councilman sounded like he believed that the fact he was a council member was more important than cooperating with the call taker. All he had to do was answer her questions without interrupting and it would have been a done deal. I hope he learns some self-control before he has to summon emergency help again. Righteous indignation wasn't the appropriate demeanor for this sort of interchange. JDM

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 3:57 PM

being a 911 calltaker and fire dispatcher, i can understand this call takers frustration. this is why everyone should be educated on how to make a 911 call. i know some of the questions that we ask dont seem important to the caller in the heat of the moment. but there are reasons for the questions. (i.e. officer safety, verifying the address and cross streets) if the jack ass would have just calmed down and answered the questions it would have been fine.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 4:39 PM

Would hate to have to depend on Catalina in any kind of emergency.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 27, 2007 10:29 PM

I have worked 22 years in Law Enforcement, 18 of those with LAPD, with 12 of those years as a Dispatcher/Dispatcher Instructor/BCC ... This man was one of the worst PRs (Person Reporting) I have heard; his information was rushed and incoherent and he was ready to "fight" with the operator right off the bat and did so, thus snarling his own report in a web of confrontation which he himself created. We at LAPD train our "Emergency Board Operators" to ask specific questions pertaining to specific emergencies, just as this woman was attempting to do despite the challenge of talking to this confrontational PR... He was A)Caught up in the excitement of the Situation, B)Ineffective as a PR because he was ready to confront from the 1st question he was asked, and C) Overwhelmed with his own seeming "importance" ... Quite an embarrassment and my sympathies to the Operator.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 28, 2007 3:53 AM

As a former public safety communications employee, we are taught to "control the conversation". And it appears that is what the dispatcher was attempting to do. But as always the case with someone who has a prominent job[whether real or percieved] they feel they deserve some special treatment when phoning in an emergency. There are specific questions that needed to be asked, and answered. People when they call 911 usually assume they are speaking with the local police station or firehouse and that we should know every little nuance and landmark in the neighborhood.
This dispatcher was attempting to do the correct job, and an excited, lack of specific info, I am more important then you caller was not helping!

# posted by

Anonymous : December 28, 2007 1:59 PM

Hats off to the dispatcher. After listening to the tape twice I still can't figure out what the address was. What I did figure out is that the reporting individual is an idiot. Although I don't know if asking him if he was intoxicated was necessary, I applaud her for not telling him to go $*@#& himself. He was out of line on this call and should keep his mouth shut before he digs a hole that he'll have to call 911 to get rescued from.

# posted by

Minnesota FF : December 28, 2007 4:41 PM

What a fool!!! I concur with the other comments...Catania was the problem, not the dispatcher. He is a perfect example of the abuse that dispatchers put up with. He should have to answer to his constituents for his behavior on the phone!

# posted by

Anonymous : December 28, 2007 5:09 PM

I am retired but after spending 30 years as a dispatcher/911 call taker.His call is typical of a hysterical caller who who gives little or no information no matter what questions are asked...He never said what the robbery was, was the robbery a theft, robbery with a weapon, a break in ,a purse snatch so what she she was trying to do was get information as to what type situation the police are getting into and he was typical of a hysterical caller who don't want to give information just want the police there now.The fact that he was a councilman would make you think he would be less emotional and answer the questions the 911 call taker asked. I think she did the best she could do to calm him down..911 job is like a policeman's job.Everybody will criticize you when you do something they don't like but when they get the fire truck, ambulance or police there, they don't think twice that you did a good job.

# posted by

tom c : December 28, 2007 8:24 PM

Dispatcher 1040 did a great job. Kudos! The councilman was out of line and lacks the common street sense to know what kind of information needs relayed to a 911 dispatcher when an emergency is underway. The councilman owes an apology to dispatcher 1040 and the Office of Unified Communications. Shame on you councilman.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 30, 2007 12:22 AM

I thought the call taker did an excellent job. The councilmember was too caught up in the moment and couldn't even relay the pertinent information to the call taker. As for the address all I heard was 21st and N,,,i think,,,,Now not too bash the call taker, but she didn't ask what section of the city NW, NE, SW, or SE.

# posted by

Anonymous : December 30, 2007 9:54 AM

<< Now not too bash the call taker, but she didn't ask what section of the city NW, NE, SW, or SE. >>

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 21st & N St only exists in the Northwest quadrant of the city. 21st & N NE would be in the Arboretum, 21st & N SE would be in Anacostia Park and 21st and N SW would be in Arlington!

# posted by

Kobersteen : December 31, 2007 10:51 AM

The second time the caller said the address he said NW and then shortly afterward the dispatcher repeated NW so you can't fault the dispatcher for not asking that.

Nitpicking, I do think it was unnecessary for the dispatcher to ask police or fire after caller said police twice and rather should have just said "you have reached police" like she later said.

However, overall I thought the dispatcher did a good job with an unnecessarily irate caller. Although I agree that both had bigger egos than they should have but 80% of the blame should be on the councilman.

# posted by

NJ Steve : December 31, 2007 9:43 PM