My 911 encounter a few days ago

[Jeanlouise]

A few days ago I was driving down a fairly main street in my town and I see a man lying on the sidewalk.
(not all that unusual for my town considering the drug problem). I called 911 and said, There's a man lying on the sidewalk on Winchester Ave. about a block from 7-11"
Dispatcher- what's the address?
me- I don't know but he's lying on the sidewalk a block from 7-11
Dispatcher- which 7-11?
me- the one on Winchester Ave.
Dispatcher-what's he wearing?
me- (I actually started to laugh) I don't know what he's wearing but he's the ONLY ONE LAYING ON THE SIDEWALK ONE BLOCK FROM THE WINCHESTER AVE. 7-11.

geez...like there are 5 men lying on the sidewalk but I'm calling about this specific one.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[BigJon10125]

makes you wonder eh?

[DroidGeorge]

Cops are sometimes crazy, and dispatchers too. - New from Oklahoma : two officers from Muskogee under investigation for tear gassing and tasering a woman (are you ready?) handcuffed to a hospital bed in the Muskogee Regional Medical Center.

George

[steffen]

Cops are sometimes crazy, and dispatchers too. - New from Oklahoma : two officers from Muskogee under investigation for tear gassing and tasering a woman (are you ready?) handcuffed to a hospital bed in the Muskogee Regional Medical Center.

George

It sounds crazy, but aren't police and corrections officers required to use force to stop an individual in custody from causing harm to themselves? The headline is probably just out of context.

[Jeanlouise]

Cops are sometimes crazy, and dispatchers too. - New from Oklahoma : two officers from Muskogee under investigation for tear gassing and tasering a woman (are you ready?) handcuffed to a hospital bed in the Muskogee Regional Medical Center.

George

Are you kidding me! That should go well in court.

[steffen]

Oh and about the original post. I'm sure the operator was just following a checklist. Sounds like you responded appropriately by repeating, MAN IN THE ROAD BY THE 7-11 ON WINCHESTER AVE!!!!! Any of the other details were irrelevant.

[xXxplosive]

Maybe if you called in "Shots Fired" they would have responded faster............or Hmmmm........maybe not.

[Cold Shot]

How big of a road is Winchester Ave? Maybe there are several 7-11's on it?

Maybe the guy would wake up and walk away and they wanted a description of his clothes to help find him?

[Pistology]

He could've been playing possum. Sounds like the dispatcher gets that there's a man on the ground. But he could be crawling slowly, and you just didn't notice. Then, if there are higher priority calls in the cue, he could be gone by the time the cops get there and start a search. Maybe I'm over thinking it.
(You think a man laying on the sidewalk is not unusual? You should come to Hollyweird and see some of the things that aren't unusual - a guy somersaulting across Sunset Blvd? Just a few horn blows. Don't ask how I know this ;) ).

[Jeanlouise]

How big of a road is Winchester Ave? Maybe there are several 7-11's on it?

Maybe the guy would wake up and walk away and they wanted a description of his clothes to help find him?

No, we only have 2 7-11's in town. One on Winchester Ave and one completely across town.
I'm not really critizing the dispatcher because she probably was reading from a script as Steffen said. It just seemed to devolve into comedy so quickly.

[OldVet]

Cops are sometimes crazy, and dispatchers too. - New from Oklahoma : two officers from Muskogee under investigation for tear gassing and tasering a woman (are you ready?) handcuffed to a hospital bed in the Muskogee Regional Medical Center.

George

Bad girl, bad girl; whatcha gonna do when they taser you...

[Jeanlouise]

Sue?

[Stirling XD]

Several years ago, one of my wife's coworkers bought a boat. (I'm guessing his first boat.) They launched the boat and took off down the lake. I'm not exactly sure of all of the details that happened next, but the boat sank. They managed to keep their cell phones dry in the process and dialed 911 to report their plight. The operator asked for their location, where they launched from and which direction they went from there. The operator then asks for a description of the boat. I'm sure that is part of a checklist of things they are required to ask, but in this situation it seems rather silly. "Let's see, it's 18 feet long, has a Mercury motor, it's white with red and blue stripes and oh yeah, IT'S COVERED BY 80 FEET OF WATER."

[OldVet]

I once called 911 when I was exiting the interstate and saw a trucker trying to extinguish a brake fire. By the time I got my phone out and called, I'd left the highway and was headed into town. Told the dispatcher who I was, what was happening, and exact location of the vehicle. She insisted on knowing where I was (?). I'm headed home. "Where is that?" What difference does that make, send the dang fire dept. out to help the guy--and I hung up. (Patience is not my strong point.)

A few blocks farther and I see the FD rounding the corner. I guess she finally got the mesage I didn't need the help.

[JoJoGunn]

Maybe this Dispatcher is not familiar with the area. It is a definite possibility.

I went to Columbus, OH once and got a bit lost. I went into a convenience store to ask directions on how to get back on the loop around the city and the clerk said "I have no idea and I don't know nothing" and went back to whatever he was doing.

I found the way back on the loop but shook my head at the lack of knowledge the knucklehead behind the counter posessed. Maybe the 9-1-1 opperator needs some more training in Geography.