Dispatchers tell callers they can only report crime as victim

[Quantum Windbag]

Bus riders called for help as a teenager was being attacked aboard a bus.

But dispatch refused to send a deputy. Investigators claim the callers were unclear.

Trouble broke out as the Route 128 Metro bus headed to Seattle from South 122th Street and Military Road. Four large men surrounded 14-year-old Dafarus Coleman and began commenting on his jacket.

...

As the bus moved along, Gray told the dispatcher the crime was happening in front of her eyes. But the dispatcher told her he wouldn't send a deputy.

911 dispatcher:"You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this."

911 callers report theft aboard bus, denied help by dispatch | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News | Local & Regional

Seems pretty clear to me.

 

[xsited1]

911 dispatcher:"You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this."

This reminds me of a story I might have posted a while back. I've got some Mexican friends who own a jewelry store that was robbed a couple years ago. They had surveillance cameras and everything was recorded including clear images of the robbers. After the robbery, the cops took their statements and that was that. No arrests were ever made. Except that about a year ago my Mexican friends saw two of the perpetrators at a local business and contacted the cops to come arrest them. They said they couldn't arrest them because they were not committing a crime. When my friends said they had already committed a crime and had them on a surveillance tape they said it didn't matter. WTH?

 

[George Costanza]

Bus riders called for help as a teenager was being attacked aboard a bus.

But dispatch refused to send a deputy. Investigators claim the callers were unclear.

Trouble broke out as the Route 128 Metro bus headed to Seattle from South 122th Street and Military Road. Four large men surrounded 14-year-old Dafarus Coleman and began commenting on his jacket.

...

As the bus moved along, Gray told the dispatcher the crime was happening in front of her eyes. But the dispatcher told her he wouldn't send a deputy.

911 dispatcher:"You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this."

911 callers report theft aboard bus, denied help by dispatch | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News | Local & Regional

Seems pretty clear to me.

That dispatcher needs to brush up on his law. This was not a theft that was in progress - it was a potential robbery. Theft is a crime against property. Robbery is a crime against the person. I can possibly see the rationale behind a "victim only may report the crime" when we are dealing with theft. But a crime in progress against a person? No way.

Imagine this one - you witness a large mob about to lynch someone. They have the guy tied up in the back of a pickup with a rope dangling from a light pole. They are about to put the rope around his neck and drive off. You call 911, and are informed that only the victim of the crime can make a 911 call. You say: "Um, he is a little occupied right now, can't I do it for him?"

That dispatcher needs to be seriously counseled/fired.

 

[George Costanza]

911 dispatcher:"You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this."

This reminds me of a story I might have posted a while back. I've got some Mexican friends who own a jewelry store that was robbed a couple years ago. They had surveillance cameras and everything was recorded including clear images of the robbers. After the robbery, the cops took their statements and that was that. No arrests were ever made. Except that about a year ago my Mexican friends saw two of the perpetrators at a local business and contacted the cops to come arrest them. They said they couldn't arrest them because they were not committing a crime. When my friends said they had already committed a crime and had them on a surveillance tape they said it didn't matter. WTH?

I'm not saying this didn't happen - but I have had a number of cases where the perp reappeared at the crime scene some time after the crime took place and the victim called the cops saying he was there now, come get him. In every case I ever had, they went out and got him.

Was the business owner in your example calling the same police agency that had done the initial investigation? If so, that's a pretty shabby police agency. And even it if it was a different one, a call should have been made to the investigating agency to confirm and then the collar should have been made.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Bus riders called for help as a teenager was being attacked aboard a bus.

But dispatch refused to send a deputy. Investigators claim the callers were unclear.

Trouble broke out as the Route 128 Metro bus headed to Seattle from South 122th Street and Military Road. Four large men surrounded 14-year-old Dafarus Coleman and began commenting on his jacket.

...

As the bus moved along, Gray told the dispatcher the crime was happening in front of her eyes. But the dispatcher told her he wouldn't send a deputy.

911 dispatcher:"You cannot report a theft that did not occur to you. The person who the items were stolen from has to report this."

911 callers report theft aboard bus, denied help by dispatch | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News | Local & Regional

Seems pretty clear to me.

That dispatcher needs to brush up on his law. This was not a theft that was in progress - it was a potential robbery. Theft is a crime against property. Robbery is a crime against the person. I can possibly see the rationale behind a "victim only may report the crime" when we are dealing with theft. But a crime in progress against a person? No way.

Imagine this one - you witness a large mob about to lynch someone. They have the guy tied up in the back of a pickup with a rope dangling from a light pole. They are about to put the rope around his neck and drive off. You call 911, and are informed that only the victim of the crime can make a 911 call. You say: "Um, he is a little occupied right now, can't I do it for him?"

That dispatcher needs to be seriously counseled/fired.

Fuck counseling, fire him/her. That will teach the others.