When Aiyana Ehrman called to report a large fight at the Quinnipiac River, the police dispatcher put her on hold for five minutes, without asking for any details.
Ehrman (pictured) relayed her complaint to Assistant Police Chiefs Roy Brown and Kenneth Gillespie at a meeting of the Quinnipiac River Community Group Tuesday night at the Waucoma Yacht Club. The assistant chiefs were standing in for Chief James Lewis, who was unable to attend due to scheduling confusion.
Ehrman said the incident happened last month. She looked out the window from her riverside home and saw 40 to 50 kids fighting. She called 911 and reported a fight. The dispatcher put her on hold, without asking if there were any guns, she said. She waited five minutes.
By the time the dispatcher got back, the fight had fortunately been broken up, because someone had yelled “cops.” Ehrman was concerned about what could have happened if the brawl had had a different ending — and about how the dispatcher treated her.
Dissatisfied with the response, Ehrman asked the dispatcher to transfer her to the supervisor on duty. The dispatcher said the supervisor was out of the office and to call back in 20 minutes. But when she called later, the supervisor still wasn’t there.
Ehrman wanted to know why she was put on hold and what the police department was doing to educate and train dispatchers.
“I want to know what I should expect from the police,” Ehrman said.
Brown and Gillespie said she should expect change.
Quality Control
“We want to make sure these complaints don’t fall on deaf ears,” Gillispie said. “That dispatcher should have taken [Ehrman’s] name and number and made certain that she got through to the supervisor.”
Brown (pictured) said Chief Lewis is working to improve methods of quality control throughout the entire department, including the dispatch center.
With a full staff of four assistant chiefs, police are now focusing on retraining dispatchers. All 911 calls are recorded, making it easy to review a dispatcher’s performance. If someone calls to complain about how a dispatcher treated them, police sit down with the dispatcher and listen to the 911 tape. The point isn’t to discipline them, Brown said, but to show them how they sounded and point out how they could improve.
People who wish to issue complaints about 911 dispatchers can email the chief here, with the date and time of the call.
Police are also reviewing the dispatch tapes at random, for quality control, Lewis has said.
“We are looking to provide the best service possible to the community,” said Brown. “We’re not here to fix things from the past, but help move forward and enact new policies.”
One of the ways the department is moving into the 21st century is by updating their available technology. Police ranked lieutenant and above just got their own Blackberries.
“We want better lines of communication,” said Brown.
Both chiefs were receptive to bridging the communication gap in both directions. Many community members, such as Ian Christmann, said they are interested in helping out with investigations.
Christmann’s apartment was broken into three weeks ago. He said he called his friend’s sister, a mail carrier, and asked if she had seen anything suspicious.
“There are so many people with their eyes on the street, every day, who would love to help” Christmann said. “We’re mobile, we’re active, and we’re here tonight because we want to help you.”