Why Doesn’t 911 Work In Seattle?
By mjseattle
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?
This entry was posted on August 2, 2007 at 8:41 am and is filed under crime, police, seattle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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October 29, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Obviously there is a true need for more cops. Many communities and watch groups have asked the city council for more, but the request pretty much fell on deaf ears. The SPD union asked for 500 more cops NOW and the mayor gave SPD only 150 over the next five years. keep in mind their are 5 precincts with 3 shifts and 3 different work schedules for days off. So as you can see that only amounts to a few of the new officers to work each shift if and when SPD gets the new officers.
Get with the SPD union sometime and they can explain it more in depth.
Please stop blaming the cops, they are over worked and the 911 calls are very high. SPD has the same number of cops as in 1970, yep, its true so blame your city council-not the cops.
Remember the new library built downtown? When it was funded there was a hiring freeze on Police Officers. Until this year, all new cops had to buy their own uniforms and equiptment(about 3-$3500.00), where other agencies fully equipt their officers when they are hired so it doesnt help with recruiting. Oh, lets not forget the low pay either and officers having to go to court on their days off (not a bonus). How bout the city counsil not willing to give the SPD officers decent pay raises ( leads to bad morale).
Get involved and you’ll get all the answers you need, can you handle the truth though? Thanks
October 30, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Thanks for your response Paul. Unfortunately I don’t know any police officers personally, and certainly don’t single them out for this situation.
You make a strong case that we’d benefit from more police officers. I’m sold on that. What are some positive things people like me do to make this a reality?
July 3, 2008 at 10:56 am
Not sure if more officers is the answer, cause a lot of these issues caused by system that doesn’t really care. The issue with transient, not that uncommon if you live’d here for awhile, just seems that maybe some tough love is needed.
July 13, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Recently I was at the Jack in the Box Restaurant at Rainier Beach (drive through only). Local hood rats regularly buy and sell dope via cars in the drive through. On this particular day. One of the baggy pants wearing hood rats was standing on the drive through exit curb. The exit is extremely tight and my mid size pickup never makes it without scrubbing the curb. The hood rat just stood on the curb edge and stared at me while the hood of my car brushed his baggy pants…challenging me to hit him instead of simply stepping on the curb where he shouldn’t have been anyway. I guess what he didn’t realize is that I’d rather knock the shit out of him with the car than risk any kind of verbal confrontation. If you get into a verbal confrontation anywhere in this city where the hood rats are you will be swarmed and beaten just like Mr. Paroline at his Rainer Beach traffic circle.
I called 911, SPD also would not take any further info from me without an address….It’s the only Jack in the Box for miles…..I get a Google hit on the address instantly….as fast as I can type “jack in the box rainier beach.”
Recently there was a 5 car one injury accident fully blocking a major arterial in front of my house in the South end. It took the SPD just over 2 hours to get here.
In another incident, I personally took a 9mm pistol from a 14 year old kid who had been vandalizing homes and cars…..70 minutes to get SPD there. Meanwhile the situation was escalating rapidly with gangbanger buddies of the kid swarming around me in their cars. The only thing that kept them at bay…..they knew I had the kids gun.
SPD currently has their head completely up their ass.
July 13, 2008 at 3:51 pm
A few years ago I found a corpse in Steinbrueck Park near the Pike Place Market. Some of the park regulars were standing next to the body and hadn’t even bothered to make call 911. I called 911 on my cell phone. The operator kept asking me to check his breathing and how did I know he was dead? I finally got fed up and told her “he’s not going anywhere, do whatever you are going to do.” At that point a voice broke in and said we’ll check it out. A few minutes later the fire department showed up and yep- the guy was dead.
July 13, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Karl and Joe, thanks for your posts. I don’t think we have to tolerate slow response time to dangerous situations.
Steinbrueck Park is a great example of a place full-time police presence could make a difference. But instead we’re talking about spending $3M to level the hills! Other downtown hotspots include 3rd Ave and Pike. I do see (and appreciate) bicycle patrols around there, and want to see a lot more of this. How can we change this?
July 18, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Nice blog!
Here’s a couple of suggestions, which may or may not work for you.
1. Situational awareness is critical. I’m not advocating for being a totally paranoid person, but it’s a great idea to know where you are at all times – if not the exact address, know the closest cross street.
2. Call, call, call, call – the squeaky wheel gets the grease. 911 dispatchers work on a tiered system; there are multiple levels of 911 calls; some are nuisance calls, such as the dude screaming outside of your window all the way up to life threatening emergent calls such as a man brandishing a firearm at an old grandmother. These calls get dispatched in order of priority, life-threatening or in-progress calls naturally come first. Do your best to asssit the dispatcher ascertain what the priority of a call is by keeping your information as brief and concise as possible. 911 dispatchers also need to know who to route the call to, they will then parse the 911 call to the appropriate agency (Seattle Fire, AMR, Seattle Police, outside law enforcement agency, etc.) Where the call goes is dependent on the information you give them.
Dispatchers field all sorts of calls, and if you’ve ever watched Jay Leno, you’ll know that they field absolutely RIDICULOUS calls such as people asking directions, or mama wanting an officer dispatched to their house because their impudent 4 year old won’t go to bed.
Follow the K.I.S.S. rule.
WHERE are you?
WHAT is happening?
WHO are you?
Example:
“911, what is your emergency?”
“I need the police, I’m at the Harbor Steps Apartments on the 1st Avenue side, I’m not sure what the address is, but I’m standing on 1st Av, and I’m north of Seneca. I’m being assaulted by a transient-looking male who just said he was going to beat me and my girlfriend, he’s already shoved me and punched me three times. He has not displayed any weapons. He is a white male, 40’s, 5′8″, medium build with sunglasses, and he’s wearing a yellow windbreaker and dirty blue jeans.”
Dispatchers need to know the closest address approximation, what type of crime is occuring (in progress or not, life threatening or not – hence the mention of whether a weapon is involved, and who is involved. It is also important to let the dispatcher know that you are willing to be contacted by police, and that you will either stand by the location (if safe to do so), or how you can be contacted (hence the name and callback number).
3. Situations change in a heartbeat, and a simple threats call can turn into an in-progress life-threatening event in a split second. If you can safely stay on the phone, do so until the police arrive. If you can retreat safely, do so (and remind the dispatcher that you are willing to be contacted by the police).
If a suspect takes off from the scene, tell the dispatcher whether they left on foot or in a vehicle, and what direction they are going.
4. Keep in mind, the police right now, despite the new contract, are still woefully understaffed. Take the East Precinct for example, which encompassed the ship canals to the North, just past Dearborn Av to the South, Lake Washington to the East, and I-5 (and some other westward areas) to the West. If you look at the SPD’s webpage, you’ll see that approximately 90,000 people live within the E Precinct alone. On a good day, East Precinct’s 2nd Watch (11AM – 8:30PM) has usually anywhere from 12-16 officers on duty for all 90,000 residents. On some days, there are only 11. The same goes for 3rd Watch (7PM – 4:30AM), and you’d be truly frightened if I gave you the numbers for 1st Watch (3AM – 12:30PM).
Now look at how SPD deploys it’s officers. Paper calls (calls with no emergent factors where only a report initially needs to be taken) require one officer. Crimes of violence, emergent crimes, or crimes where the possibility exists that officers will be putting hands on people (shoplifting to any kind of disturbance) require at least two officers to ensure that officers don’t end up in a situation where they’re fighting one or multiple people. Now look again at the numbers I quoted for East Precinct. Say there are 3 car prowls that occured within an hour; 1 residential burglary, 2 business alarm calls, 1 in-progress assault with a victim on the ground, 2 drunks passed out on Broadway, and 1 apparently mental individual walking in and out of traffic, and one traffic accident with a drunk driver.
3 car prowls = 3 officers. 1 residential burglary (if it’s a “cold call”, meaning suspects are gone) = 1 officer, more if there is the possiblility that a suspect is still inside or suspects are still in the area = 3-4 officers. In progress assault = at least 2 officers, maybe more to roam the area if the suspect leaves the scene, 2 drunks passed out on Broadway = at least 2 officers for each person. 1 apparently mental individual walking in and out of traffic = at least 2 officers, preferrably one Taser officer in case the subject is high or on drugs. The DUI will take at least 2 officers, one to process the accident and the DUI, one officer to protect the 1st officer during the field sobriety tests and possible arrest (remember, at least two officers if there’s the possibility an officer will have to go ‘hands on’ with a person). Just that alone = 14 officers MINIMUM deployed on just those calls, and for those calls that require the upper limit, those are going to get priority…meaning the “paper calls,” “nuisance calls”, or calls without a present suspect are going to get bumped down on the priority list. Remember, on an average day, East Precinct has 12 officers deployed. Guess how many calls for service the East Precinct gets on an average weekday?
Compound this with report writing time and think about how long it will take an officer to arrive on a call, get the relevant information from the victim or subject, write the report, and get back on the street. Now factor in an arrest, which will include all of the above, processing the scene (fingerprints, photos, obtaining statements from involved parties, towing vehicles, waiting for the sobering center van to arrive to pick up the drunks, etc), transporting the prisoner, completing the arrest report, completing jail paperwork, transporting the prisoner to jail, and booking in the evidence.
Another sobering factoid – a competent officer who regularly handles DUIs takes about 3 – 3.5 to complete a DUI arrest from the time they arrive on scene to completing all the required paperwork and booking the suspect into jail. That’s only if a collision isn’t involved…it’s much longer if blood evidence is required, or if there is an injury accident, etc.
The way to get the officers to your call as soon as possible is to provide as much good info to the dispatcher so they can propery assess the priority of the call, and how many officers will be necessary for your particular situation. DO NOT hype the call up or you can be looking at false reporting charges (rare, not appreciated, and known to have happened in the past).
The other (hopefully by now) obvious truth is that SPD needs more officers on the streets. Bottom line, if there were more officers, there would be more officers to deploy to handle the calls that come in.
Each 911 call is important, and officers must go where they’re dispatched. How much investigation is put into each call is going to be dependent on the level of information given to the 911 dispatchers so they can accurately convey to the officers what is happening, so they can appropriately respond to each call.
Hope this helps explain a little.
July 19, 2008 at 1:51 am
Very informative response Chris — thank you.
You wrote “SPD needs more officers on the streets.” I would like to see that too. For all the money we spend on other things, it seems this could be made a higher priority. What can citizens do to push things in that direction? Is the SPD short of funds in general, or is it how the SPD prioritizes its work?
July 20, 2008 at 1:03 pm
mjseattle, IMHO, it’s a little bit of both as well as some other factors. I am short on time, so I can’t write too much now, but there are things that we can do.
-write city council
-host a block meeting and find other neighbors who are interested in getting together to address community and safety concerns.
-every precinct has a Community Police Team. Call your precinct, find out who the CPT officer is assigned to your area and request a meeting or start e-mailing them or their Sgt. with neighborhood concerns.
-ask for a RTW, or a Request To Watch for trouble areas; it’s not a surefire way to get more officers in the area, but if the police precinct gets calls and complaints of hotspots, they will try to get officers not attached to calls to patrol areas of concern more frequently.
-be a polite but squeaky wheel. Each precinct also has a CAU, or Crime Analysis Unit, which tracks and monitors crime trends in certain areas…the more crimes/suspicious circumstances that are reported, the more attention goes to that area. Remember, the police precinct’s reputation for responsiveness is important to them; if there are hotspots located and the neighborhood is on top of them, the police will be there.
Last note before I run off to work; try to be a good neighbor. Attitude towards the police is really important. Officers usually sign up to serve out of a sense of committment, not because they want recognition or gratitude. Seattle is overall a pretty anti-cop town. I know at least a dozen officers who have left SPD because they have been wooed to other agencies that pay better, and have communities that actually support them.
I know several potential officers as well as officers from different cities who would not sign up with Seattle because of Seattleites’ general attitudes towards law enforcement. Several have pointed to the Soundoffs in the Seattle PI as a perfect example of why NOT to work for Seattle.
I do not recomment blind support for law enforcement and I think Seattle does better than most agencies when it comes to oversight, it is important for a clean and honest department. However, the overall negative feeling towards police officers here greatly reduces the desire to come to Seattle to work; evevn though the money is pretty good. Again, all the officers I know joined up out of a sense of committment and duty, so it’s not about the money or thanks, but it is nice to know that SOMEONE appreciates wheat they do.
Take Care!
August 17, 2008 at 10:27 am
Thank you for this posting opportunity.
My wife and I have had your exact same scenarios at our home neighborhood residence.
I will share your and others tips with our Block Watch group.
We will not go away on this type of issue.
We all need to pick and choose where to put our time and energies. These concerns are our type of choices.
God Bless, and Keep Your Faith.
Garry & Barbara