As much as I love living in downtown Seattle, the crime rate here is way higher than the suburbs. Living here for years has given me several occasions to call 911. (My only previous call was a medical emergency.) The last two incompetent responses raise doubts whether they’ll be able to help should a life or death situation arise.
A couple years ago, I managed to call 911 on my cell phone while being physically threatened by a drugged out transient in the courtyard of the Harbor Steps apartments, the largest and best-known apartment complex in downtown Seattle. I was raised to believe calling the authorities was a better option than fighting back (and probably getting sued later). Running away, abandoning my girlfriend there, didn’t occur to me. I guess I was naive. The 911 operator refused to provide any assistance until I gave an exact address of Harbor Steps — information that’s in every phone book or easy to find with a web search. In the meantime, the transient actually did assault me, striking me several times as I stupidly tried to work with the 911 operator I had assumed would be resourceful in trying to stop a crime in progress. Bystanders started to notice what was happening and the transient fled. One of the bystanders knew the address, which I relayed to the 911 operator still connected. We waited 10-15 minutes and were about to leave when two officers showed up. The officers were very motivated to catch the guy, explaining that ordinarily their hands were tied by rules favoring vagrants. Of course there wasn’t much they could do long after the guy had run away. Now, this turned out not to be a life threatening situation. But what assurance is there the response would have been any better if it were? And why wouldn’t a 911 operator have access to a phone directory? Every cab driver in Seattle knows where Harbor Steps is; couldn’t the 911 operators become half as smart as 411 operators? Isn’t it kind of important?
The most recent incident was also not life threatening, but discouraging. A couple days ago around 4AM a man on the sidewalk outside my window went berzerk yelling obscenities into his cell phone loud enough to wake us up. I came to the window and said, “Excuse me. We’re sleeping here.” The man directed his rage at me and threatened to assault me. I felt pretty invaded by this, told him I was calling the police (which didn’t faze him in the least), and retreated from the window to call 911 from my land line to avoid the hassle of the previous call. Guess how well that worked…. The 911 operator downplayed the issue while stalling with questions about his exact appearance and dress (note that this man and his friend were the only people on the street), and my address and phone number! Don’t they have that already? All my friends with Caller ID do. Meanwhile the guy on the street went back to yelling obscenities into his cell phone at the top of his lungs. He got quieter when a squad car stopped at the traffic light, ignoring him, then louder when the car drove away. Now I realize why he was unperturbed by my announcement I was calling the police: He knew more than I did how effective that would be.
I do not want to bash police officers. They are already insufficiently appreciated for the dangerous work they do, and the ones I met really wanted to help. What can we do to improve our 911 emergency response system?
