Three minutes and 39 seconds into the 911 call, the dispatcher interrupted the caller and raised her voice.
“I’m listening to you, but …” the caller had said.
“You didn’t answer my questions!” the dispatcher yelled. “They’re [medics, cops] on their way! And their safety is just as important as yours!”
The two were having trouble communicating — producing not just potential delays in addressing a crisis, but also a case study for New Haven’s ongoing debate over how 911 calls are handled.
It was the early morning of May 26, in a ninth-floor apartment of the Taft Apartments at Chapel and College streets across from the Green.
The caller, a female Yale undergraduate, had dialed 911 at 5:26. She and two male friends, one a fellow Yale undergraduate, one a just-graduated senior who lived in the apartment, had been up all night drinking. A fight erupted. The senior stabbed the male undergraduate, a friend and fellow participant in conservative campus politics who came from the same hometown of Manchester, N.H.
As she held a T‑shirt over the victim’s bleeding chest, the female student told the 911 dispatcher about the stabbing. She and the dispatcher struggled to establish some basic facts. By the time the dispatcher interrupted the caller and started yelling, the caller was watching the senior stand by the windowsill, preparing to jump. She was trying to tell that to the dispatcher.
The dispatcher struggled to learn more; the caller tried to answer while attending to the stabbing victim and trying to convince the senior not to jump.
As medics and cops headed to the scene, the questioning continued — until the caller began shrieking.
The dispatcher by then understood what had happened with the senior by the windowsill.
“Ma’am … Ma’am,” she said amid the caller’s shrieking sobs. “Can you confirm with me Tyler just threw himself out the window?”
“Yes.”
“OK. Go back to your friend that was stabbed and keep applying the pressure …”
The 21-year-old senior died that night. The stabbing victim survived; he is back home recovering. Police are finishing up their investigation into the incident; no arrests are expected.
The details of the seven-minute and 14-second 911 call came from a recording obtained by the Independent under the state Freedom of Information Act. Click on the arrow at the top of the story to listen to it.
Both the caller and the dispatcher were under tremendous stress in a fast-moving, confusing situation.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Michael Briscoe, who runs the 911 center (formally called the Public Service Answering Point), has reviewed the recording. He said he sees it as a teachable moment at a time when he’s seeking to increase the center’s crisis-intervention training. Even before the call, Briscoe had enlisted retired police Lt. Ray Hassett (pictured), who does crisis-intervention training around the world and has begun training city police officers on de-escalation, to lead a class later this summer for the 911 staff.
“I’m not concluding that she did anything wrong,” Briscoe said of the dispatcher. “I am concluding it was a tough call. And there is a lesson to be learned. No matter how infrequent a circumstance might occur, it must be trained and be prepared for. This occurrence reinforces the need for such training.”
Briscoe called the dispatcher one of his most “seasoned” staffers, who has been cross-trained to handle both fire and police emergency calls: “She’s good. She’s calibrated.” He added that his “heart goes out to the families of all of the victims” as well as to “the caller and her family.”
The city’s police union has been in conflict with the city over the use of civilians in all capacities at the 911 center, arguing that needed expertise is sacrificed. The city argues that civilians can be adequately trained to do the jobs at less cost than cops (or firefighters), who are better deployed on the streets.
After reviewing the 911 recording in the Taft incident, union attorney Marshall Segar offered this response: “Dispatchers have an extraordinarily stressful job. I am sure this incident is under review by the New Haven Police Department and other city agencies. The union will not comment on whether the matter was or was not handled in accordance with department policy or protocol. However, the union is prepared to say that police supervision and oversight of the emergency communication function is an issue that we are pursuing and greatly concerned about. PSAP supervision is the subject of a current complaint before the State Labor Board. The union feels that having police officers and police supervisors available to assist dispatchers during high-stress, crisis calls is a necessity.”
A transcript of the 911 recording follows. The dispatcher’s words are in italics, the caller’s in plain text, a male voice in bold.
The Call
New Haven 911.
Someone just stabbed my friend in the neck.
I’m sorry ma’am. Where are you?
The Taft Apartments, New Haven.
The Taft apartments …
New Haven, Connecticut
What number’s the street?
What’s the street? What’s the street?
55 College St.
55 College St.
(Coughing in background)
OK. What’s wrong.
Someone stabbed my friend …
Someone stabbed your friend?
… in the chest and neck.
OK. What apartment are they in.
9Q
9Q?
Yeah.
The person who stabbed them. Where are they?
What?
The PERSON WITH THE WEAPON … where are they, ma’am?
(Crying.) Tyler! Tyler! Tyler! Come back in here! … He’s on the window sill.
Ma’am!
He’s on the window sill…
Ma’am!
He’s in here. He’s in here. He’s in the apartment. He’s sitting. He’s just sitting.
Does he still have the weapon in his hand?
No. He doesn’t.
OK. What number College Street again?
I don’t know . I don’t know. It’s across from Old Campus.
Across from Old Campus?
Yes. (Crying.)
(Waaah! — moaning in background.)
Where is he stabbed at ma’am?
Alexander …
Ma’am. Where is he stabbed at? What part of his body?
Right above his rib cage, the collar bone.
(Moaning in background.)
OK. Get something with a clean towel.
Yeah, I’m holding a clean T‑shirt to his chest.
Apply pressure. OK?
Yes, I am. I am.
All right. Just stay on the line with me. I’m going to send you police and medical attention. OK?
Thank you! Thank you.
(Moaning.)
So your friend that has the knife, he’s still there?
Go in the kitchen Tyler. Go in the kitchen …
Ma’am, your friend with the knife is still there?
He’s just sitting here.
Tyler, Tyler! Go to the kitchen!
Tyler, come here, come back here Tyler! Come back here Tyler!
What does Tyler look like ma’am?
(Sobs.)
Ma’am! Listen! Ma’am. Ma’am. Ma’am. Ma’am. Ma’am, listen to me! Ma’am.
He’s on the windowsill. I’m worried. I’m worried!
Ma’am! Ma’am! Where is the person with the knife?
Tyelr, come back! Tyler come back! Come over here! Come over here Tyler! Help, Alexander, help! Come!
(Moaning)
Alexander [unintelligble], into the kitchen!
Ma’am.
Yes?
Get off me …
Tyler, the kitchen ! The kitchen! Over there! Over there! Go sit!
Ma’am.
He’s white? Caucasion? Male. 21. New Hampshire …
Ma’am. Ma’am. His name is Tyler? Ma’am!
Hold this really tight (apparently speaking to the stabbing victim).
Ma’am.
Yes?
You need to focus on what I’m saying. I’m going to get some help. But I need to make sure officers, medics and you are going to be safe. So focus on my words ma’am.
Yes.
THE PERSON WITH THE KNIFE! Do you know them?
Tyler get down!
Ma’am!
(Yells and moans in background.)
Ma’am! Who is Tyler?
Sit down!
Tyler, stay on the fucking couch! Right now Tyler!
Ma’am!
I’m listening to you ma’am, but …
You didn’t answer my questions!!! They’re on their way! And their safety is just as important as yours! Tyler … Is that the one with the knife?! That’s a yes or a no answer!
He doesn’t have a knife. I don’t know what happened.
OK! But he is the one that stabbed your friend! Yes?
Yes.
OK.
Yes, but he’s not …
Does he have the knife on him any longer?
No.
Was Tyler doing drugs ma’am?
No. He was drinking.
He was drinking.
We were all drinking.
He was under the influence when he stabbed your friend?
Yes.
OK. So he’s not in his right mind?
No!
OK. That kind of information I’m giving to my coworker so that he can tell the officers and the medics on their way. Do you understand?
Yes.
What does Tyler have on, ma’am? What does Tyler have on?
Nothing.
He’s completely nude?
Yes.
So Tyler is a naked 21-year-old white male?
Yes.
OK.
He’s in this apartment.
That’s his apartment?
Yes. 9Q Taft. … Tyler come back …
Ma’am. Tyler is OK. Focus on the friend that’s stabbed.
Yes. I have pressure. I’ve been holding pressure on this whole time.
OK. Is he conscious?
Alexander?
Yeah.
He’s conscious.
OK.
Tell him to go away.
Stay there on the couch …
Does he appear to be breathing OK?
Yes.
Continue to focus on him, OK? I also want to make sure you’re safe. Keep an eye on Tyler. The minute that he …
He’s on the edge of the window.
He’s on the edge of the window?
Yes.
OK. So Is there a way…
Tyler is on the ninth floor …
Is there any way that he can get outside?
“Yes. He’s on the windowsill. It’s on the 9th floor.”
Is there anyway that you can open the door or buzz them in?
Open the door?
I need you to buzz the cops in!
Yes. Alexander, cay you keep the pressure …
OK. Did you hear anything that I was saying?
I’m going to buzz the cops in? Now.
The door’s open. The door’s open to the apartment.
They’re able to get in from the downstairs?
There’s a doorman …
There’s a doorman downstairs to let them in?
Yes … There should be.
Is the apartment, one big open apartment …
What?
Ma’am?
Yes…. Waaaaaaaaaaaa!
Ma’am? Ma’am!
Waaaaaaaaaaaa!
Ma’am?
(Sobs and shrieks.)
Ma’am? … Ma’am I’m guessing Tyler …
(Screams.)
Ma’am … Ma’am .. Ma’am … Can you confirm with me Tyler just threw himself out the window?
Yes.
OK. Go back to your friend that was stabbed and keep applying the pressure …
(Screaming sobs.)
OK?
This is really really hard. You’re doing a great job. Keep the pressure, OK?
(Medics arrive.)
Come in, come in, come in please! Come in!