Memphis, TN (WMC) - When you call 9-1-1, you expect help immediately. "Lisa" (whose name is not being revealed) got anything but that.
"Our lives were in danger, our lives were at stake and our lifeline was severed," she says.
Severed, she says, because the 9-1-1 operator fell asleep on the line.
"I got this 911 tape through an open records request. Listen closely to hear what sounds like snoring."
Here's how it began. Lisa called 9-1-1 and got a Memphis operator.
She told the operator she was robbed at gunpoint earlier that night, and that she heard someone trying to get into her home.
"I just heard tapping on my window, I need somebody over here," Lisa says.
Then, her lifeline went silent. She says she continued to explain her situation, but the dispatcher didn't respond. Not for just 15 seconds or 30 seconds, but for one full minute.
Then, sounds of snoring.
Lisa: "Are you there? (silence) Dispatcher: "Yes, ma'am, what is the um, what's your address?"
She'd already given the dispatcher her address.
Lisa eventually got help, only after she called another 9-1-1 agency.
A spokesperson for Memphis Police says both the dispatcher and his supervisor that night have been relieved of duty. The supervisor for 20 days, the dispatcher for seven days.
A Memphis Police Department spokesperson says the department launched an investigation into the tape after WMC-TV filed a request. Since then, a supervisor has denied the station's request for an interview, saying quote, "it would not be proper to give an interview on the incident before the administrative hearings have been held in order to avoid any perception of bias on the part of administration."
So why is it taking so long for the administrative hearing? The spokeperson said the hearing cannot take place until the dispatcher returns to work.
The dispatcher is reportedly on extended sick leave.
The woman known as "Lisa" in the story asked that her named not be revealed because she works for another 9-1-1 agency and doesn't want to create conflicts at work.
5/1/2008 2:52:10 PM
