Priorities
You want to know what our manpower is being wasted on? We got this letter from 011 today:
- Unbelievable call on Zone 10 today. No wonder we have no cars available -
OEC - 1112?
1112 - 1112, go
OEC - Assist the citizen having an asthma attack. She doesn't want an ambulance, she just wants someone to come and remove the cat from her room.
1112 - uh, 99 squad
1120 - Squad, who the hell is taking these calls?
OEC - We just give them out sarge, we don't take them.
1120 - (sarcastic) yeah, well, be sure you send back up with him for those, ok?
Removing cats - that's what the Department has been reduced to on one of the busiest radio zones in the city. Someone had to actually take that call, type it up and send it to the zone, where it sat and waited for an available car, which then responded.
Maybe it's about time for the Department brass and at OEC to revisit and revamp the priority system by which calls are dispatched.
Maybe it's about time for the Department brass and at OEC to revisit and revamp the priority system by which calls are dispatched.
Labels: silly people
posted by SCC at 12:03 AM
67 Comments:
"Maybe it's about time for the Department brass and at OEC to revisit and revamp the priority system by which calls are dispatched."
LAPD Chief Daryl Gates wrote in his Book CHIEF 15 years ago that "Chicago is the only Metropolitan City that I'm was aware of that still sends a Uniformed Response to 95% of it's 911 Calls"
So much for beng progressive?
It's all about appeasing the populace, & as long as the 5th floor Bully Runt is in Power NOTHING will change.
If Alderman Burke is really too scared to drive around the city without police bodyguards why not give him a marked car?
Bring back the old C.O.S., where most people taking the calls were light duty P.O.'s and the call takers sat next to the dispatcher. Everyone on "The Zone" knew what was going on and what was B.S.
Call takers and dispatcher sitting side-by-side!!!!!!!!!!
Back then, we didn't have the backlogs like we have now!
Fuck this new "high tech" system, IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bring back the 11th n State C.O.S.
These calls get taken because the calltakers are too afraid to tell someone "THAT is NOT a Police matter." Everyone is afraid of being sued. Nowadays everyone is afraid of ending up on the front page of the newspaper.
Referencing this classic example of the lady having an asthma attack because of the cat:
Let's just say the calltaker refuses to send the police. And says "Seriously ma'am that is not a police matter. Isnt there a neighbor or a family member who can help you?" Then disconnects the call. Files the event (never sending it to dispatch) and goes on about the day taking the next call.
Two days later, let's say the woman's daughter calls the police to say my mom isnt answering her phone, and she's not answering the door either. I think something happened to her. This calltaker makes a "Check the well-being" event, sends it to the zone for dispatch, and the police go over there.
Let's go even further to say the CFD is called to do a forced entry and it is discovered that the original woman who called for police to remove the cat because of her asthma is laying dead on the kitchen floor, with her inhaler on the floor next to her just out of reach, and the cat in question is sitting on top of her licking it's paws.
Now this is ALL HYPOTHETICAL, ---BUT--- it could happen. Far fetched yet still possible.
This woman's daughter would have a lawsuit filed by the end of the week, saying the City was negligent for not sending the police in the first place, when they could have saved her life, and that the lady wouldn't be dead if the original calltaker hadn't blown off the original call.
THAT my friends, is why we get all those B.S. jobs on the zones. Because the calltakers are afraid to say no to these people who call in with ridiculous requests.
Thats as good as the rat climbing up the guys leg years ago!
I believe that the solution to the problem is to hire more officers and bring the CPD back to strength.
I don't care about these units, hey have always existed for the clout babies.
If they would just hire more officers things would improve and morale would begin to rise,officer safety adn public safety woudl also increase.
Media:
PLEASE cover this story!! It'll make people laugh, and cry at how pathetic the sysytem is.
The priority system is not really that bad. The main problem is people taking the calls at OEMC that cannot think for themselves. Or fail to send callers to ARP for calls that are mandatory ARP in the first place. Some are afraid of getting a complaint # so they send the police on every call and will say that they do. Because they are afraid a supervisor will not back them up. Or fear some politically connected fool will call demanding service for something the police do not respond for and a complaint will be registered just to appease the sap.
Others send nonpolice related calls to dispatchers because they are just plain stupid.
And still some others may slip and send 1 or 2 because they are overworked, lunches denied, mandatory working days off and just had a momentary lapse (which is expected when OEMC would rather pay people 100k a year in overtime than hire enough people to keep the building fully staffed).
Bottom line is that da mayor and alderthieves need to hire more police officers and dispatchers. If there were enough units on the street then the 8th district wouldn't be in a backlog and a unit would have been available to be dispatched. But everyday all day even in the slow winter months there is a backlog in the 8th district and many many other police districts. But at least we have beautiful median planters going up all over the city.
Maybe, no.... it's defitenitely time the media discovers that our department is not 13,500 members strong but somewhere around less than 10,000. Where is Mark Donahue in all this? Do you think there will be a buildup of troops if Chicago gets the 2012 olympics? Who is going to train these kids....not me.....!
BINGO. This didn't happen when you had police taking calls. The knew what a police matter was. Can someone from the O.E.M.C side tell us what the training is that you go through? Do you spend 18mo on probation? Do you have to take any law classes? Do the tell you what a criminal matter is vs a civil matter? Or do they ask do you know what a phone is? Do you know what a computer is. GOOD here is your city job.
I know it's not your fault you have to take the calls and they have to be dispatched but do any of you ask WHY?
Perfect example of why a job such as durkin park was held for 20 some odd min. No cars clear to take it why do you ask. loud music, landlord tenant problems, my child won't listen to me, Assist CFD(someone has a problem breating in the bad neighborhood).
I pray that I get a call like that. I'm severely allergic to cats, I'd take the call and go IOD for the rest of the summer!
This woman's daughter would have a lawsuit filed by the end of the week, saying the City was negligent for not sending the police in the first place, when they could have saved her life, and that the lady wouldn't be dead if the original calltaker hadn't blown off the original call.
THAT my friends, is why we get all those B.S. jobs on the zones. Because the calltakers are afraid to say no to these people who call in with ridiculous requests.
7/20/2007 12:55:00 AM
Ok, so explain why we are dispatched,
"caller states a plane is circling above his house" or "a duck and her chicks are now on the corner in front of the currency exchange"?
These are true jobs that were given on our zone and the dispatcher realized how silly they were, still her supervisor told her she must give it out.
They need to route the calls better.
Wires Down-Edison or Fire Dept.
Animal problem- Animal Control
Check the well being- A call to the infamous CAPS office.
All accidents (except personal injury or non-drivable)taken by call back or at district desk.
Medical Checks-The MEDICAL section
BEAT meetings-held quarterly by sector, not beat, and attended by CAPS people.
I agree that the cat call sounds ridiculous but does it occur to any of you that the woman who called may be bedridden or so alergic to cats that she may be nearly unable to breathe, that the cat somehow got into the house uninvited and is not hers - IOW's that to her, it is a life-threatening situation and she is unable to do anything about it herself, hence the call to 911. The scenario about finding her dead 2 days later during a well-being check isn't that farfetched. Similar things have happened. . . think of your own mother, grandmother, child, etc., wouldn't you want the police to help them if you couldn't? It takes only a minute and could prevent great harm. . . not everybody has somebody.
Why do they keep sending us to asst fire? You get there and fire says why you here? Or the civil problems at stores, call us for warranty work on your TV? SOMEONE SCREEN THESE CALLS!
I DON T KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT, THE CATS IN ELEVEN ARE TOUGH, DAM TOUGH, WE ARE TALKING TABBIES WITH TEC NINES, I BET A CAT PLACED THAT CALL HOPING FOR A 99 UNIT AND THEN TO AMBUSH HIM WITH A WHOLE LITTER OF KITTENS- DAM THOSE FELINES! GOOD WORK OEMC KEEP SENDING THOSE BUT HOLD THE MAJOR BRAWLS IN THE 8TH DISTRICT!
The City of Chicago - Hiring the unemployable since 1837.
At this point in my career I wish I could shoo cats away for 8 hours.It beats every other bullshit radio job I get.Domestics,landlord tenant,dist.with any ghetto thing.....
Anyone see the story on Ed Burke's plan to build waterparks in the ghetto to prevent children from getting killed when playing near open hydrants?
Yeah that makes sense. Reward the piece of shit parent that fails to watch the child. Reward the unemployed with water parks!!! Fuck the taxpayers who have to build them.
Oh yeah, one more thing...the kid that got killed lived less than 4 blocks away from Odgen Park. This is the park with the million dollar carousel and water park.
Ed Burke can lick my nutsack.
Like you've never called the police because your old lady took a shit on the living room floor when she left you.
Like you've never called the police because a 12 year old armed with a squirt gun got your new weave all wet.
Like you've never called the police because your faucet was dripping.
Like you've never called the police because your 10 year old son disrespected you.
Like you've never called the police because its hot out and you don't own a fan.
It goes on and on. I bet the Founding Fathers just love this American Utopia that all their hard work has morphed into.
I CAN'T WAIT TO RETIRE!!!!
Have you ever had to call 911 yourself? These operators are rude, belligerant and most of the time, really hard to understand. It's no wonder most civilians don't bother calling the police when something suspicious is going on...911 makes the caller feel like an offender. I've asked to speak to the "supervisor" before, just to get them to do their job. Probably interrupted their nap or something.
CFD can refuse to go on a complaint or call, but CPD has to go to check out it's validity. Meanwhile, if it is bonofied, crutial possible lifesaving minutes have expired.
Manpower you say. Why is a car still assigned to guard a certain tavern in Bridgeport 8 years after a sports reporter got into a fight?
But squad I am alergic/phobic to cats....besides doesn't the fire heros deal with cat issues???? Cats in tree's, on roofs etc????? LOL
Anonymous said...
If Alderman Burke is really too scared to drive around the city without police bodyguards why not give him a marked car?
7/20/2007 12:18:00 AM
Why does he need a fleet of bodyguards is the question?
Anonymous said...
If Alderman Burke is really too scared to drive around the city without police bodyguards why not give him a marked car?
7/20/2007 12:18:00 AM
maybe because he is outside the city a lot?
You ever call the dispatch center on the Pax? Or notice the backdrop when a dispatcher keeps the key open while having a momentary brain fart? Sounds like a backyard party, with shouting food orders and other background noises - sounds like a Marx brothers comedy. Only funny because it's true...
Anonymous said...
BINGO. This didn't happen when you had police taking calls. The knew what a police matter was. Can someone from the O.E.M.C side tell us what the training is that you go through? Do you spend 18mo on probation? Do you have to take any law classes? Do the tell you what a criminal matter is vs a civil matter? Or do they ask do you know what a phone is? Do you know what a computer is. GOOD here is your city job.
I know it's not your fault you have to take the calls and they have to be dispatched but do any of you ask WHY?
Perfect example of why a job such as durkin park was held for 20 some odd min. No cars clear to take it why do you ask. loud music, landlord tenant problems, my child won't listen to me, Assist CFD(someone has a problem breating in the bad neighborhood).
7/20/2007 04:03:00 AM
It's because we have bosses like Ruiz that will NEVER back up our decisions. It's because DA Mayor puts people in charge of the OEMC that have no clue about how to run a 911 center.
The place has been "dumbed down" in the past few years, starting around the time of Trotter and his mass hiring of "church folks" for dispatch openings. Had to be a member of the Rev Meeks' church to get hired, forget all the qualified applicants...even some from suburban police departments that applied..those applications must have been "lost".
19p Animal Control Notified
911 will assign a car to get a cat out of a room, but then will tell people who have been in traffic accidents (type B, non-drivable), people who have had their houses burglarized, victims where there is the possibility of locking up the offender, and people looking for an Order of Protection, just to name a few, to go into the district stations to get their reports and OOP’s. I work the street, lockup, and desk and it is really something to see and hear what 911 is telling people. People actually think that the people at 911 are police officers. Well, for all you people who don’t know, they are not police officers they are civilians. 911 is giving people advice on how to handle their problems and the advice is all wrong. How can you tell two truck drivers to drive their trucks to the nearest station to do a report? Well I can’t solve all these problems, but, regardless of what 911 wants, I handle all accidents that I come across without sending them in. It isn’t much, but at least I can help some people.
As someone mentioned earlier, we didn’t have these problems when officers were handling 911 and that was BEFORE all this “state of the art technology”! Two officers could handle the whole zone, know where everyone was at, know all the trouble spots, and look out for the officers on the street. Not now, all the zone wants to do now is get rid of their jobs. Well I guess that is what happens when you give a police officers job to a civilian!
Zone 10 (1st) is always a hoot. Lupe keeps things solid & 1130 needs to retire.
Why send CPD??? It would have made more sense to dispatch CFD instead!
These calls get taken because the calltakers are too afraid to tell someone "THAT is NOT a Police matter." Everyone is afraid of being sued. Nowadays everyone is afraid of ending up on the front page of the newspaper.
Referencing this classic example of the lady having an asthma attack because of the cat:
Let's just say the calltaker refuses to send the police. And says "Seriously ma'am that is not a police matter. Isnt there a neighbor or a family member who can help you?" Then disconnects the call. Files the event (never sending it to dispatch) and goes on about the day taking the next call.
Two days later, let's say the woman's daughter calls the police to say my mom isnt answering her phone, and she's not answering the door either. I think something happened to her. This calltaker makes a "Check the well-being" event, sends it to the zone for dispatch, and the police go over there.
Let's go even further to say the CFD is called to do a forced entry and it is discovered that the original woman who called for police to remove the cat because of her asthma is laying dead on the kitchen floor, with her inhaler on the floor next to her just out of reach, and the cat in question is sitting on top of her licking it's paws.
Now this is ALL HYPOTHETICAL, ---BUT--- it could happen. Far fetched yet still possible.
This woman's daughter would have a lawsuit filed by the end of the week, saying the City was negligent for not sending the police in the first place, when they could have saved her life, and that the lady wouldn't be dead if the original calltaker hadn't blown off the original call.
Lets say what you said could happen........THEN SEND THE DAMN FIRE DEPARTMENT INTIALLY... NOT THE POLICE!
Why do you have to call the
Runt a Bully?
Maybe if the ignant fool didn't own a cat there would be no problem. Maybe...
Yes the "anonymous" calls that come in are a waste. I think that everyone should be required to leave their name but remain anonymous over the radio UNLESS, it's a bogus call. If it's a bogus call they should be arrested for filing a false report. That would stop half of these BS calls that waste our time.
We had a CAT call in the 13th district years ago and we thought it was an April Fools gag. It turned out the cat sniffed coke and attacked the owners leaving them trapped in the kitchen. This job had three 2-man squads, wagon, and sgt down for three hours until animal control could be reached. What a waste of manpower.
Question Who monitors all the "crime fighting" cameras around the city and in the parks ? If they are monitored what is the procedure when they do see actionable activity? What priority do they have? Are they direct linked to OEC?
Can the cameras be seen on the Internet?
19p
The people taking these calls are the same kind of idiots who make these calls
I like when CFD has to assist the disabled person to their car so they can go to the Drs. office.
All this while that disabled persons three twentysomething sons stand and watch as the Firetruck arrives and does the assist. Why are these calls even being taken in the first place?
How much does it cost for a firetruck to leave the firehouse on one of these BS runs?
Every few months near englewood we get suspicious person calls that are narrated: "I see white people! They don't belong here send police to see what they are doing."
they need to stop detailing beat cars in 008 and 009 to alderman's houses. and stop detailing 2 cars to daley's house in 001. and wherever else that bullshit is going on.
To 7/20/2007 05:03:00 PM
That's four questions, not one
Anonymous said...
I agree that the cat call sounds ridiculous but does it occur to any of you that the woman who called may be bedridden or so alergic to cats that she may be nearly unable to breathe, that the cat somehow got into the house uninvited and is not hers - IOW's that to her, it is a life-threatening situation and she is unable to do anything about it herself, hence the call to 911. The scenario about finding her dead 2 days later during a well-being check isn't that farfetched. Similar things have happened. . . think of your own mother, grandmother, child, etc., wouldn't you want the police to help them if you couldn't? It takes only a minute and could prevent great harm. . . not everybody has somebody.
7/20/2007 07:25:00 AM
In the meantime, I have drug dealers in my neighborhood blatently selling dope and full well knowing there are no cops in the area, because they have been reassigned to hellish neighborhoods where no one really gives a damn anyway, and it's the circle of life. So, no the woman should call her neighbor, or her family member to come help her. Not the police.They have bigger fish to fry. I am not a cop, just a resident of Chicago and supporter of y'all. Thank you.
Hell with the radio, bring back call boxs.
To all of you that think "things were better" when there were solely cops answering calls and dispatching in "DA OLD ROOM":
I have seen some of the WORST events ever sent to the zones originate at ARP.
Who is it that sits at ARP/call back and answers what should be non-emergency calls?
Oh, right, its COPPERS, "light duty" police like back at 11th and State.
They are also the ones who send NUMEROUS jobs to dispatch that SHOULD have been processed as reports taken over the phone. Another reason why there are so many BS jobs for the dispatchers to assign to beat units.
99% of us that work the operations floor at the OEMC are overworked, underappreciated and yet still give 150% when we sit down at those consoles every day. We are just like the 99% of you coppers that are overworked, underappreciated and give 150% when you get into that squad car.
Stop badmouthing each other. It solves no problems and only fuels the fire of animosity that have been raging in this city for FAR too long.
how f&*^ing stupid is 1120?
"1120- code that job to me squad and put 1112 back up" is a real response
Lets say what you said could happen........THEN SEND THE DAMN FIRE DEPARTMENT INTIALLY... NOT THE POLICE!
7/20/2007 02:07:00 PM
She refused an ambulance. So CFD didn't go. Which they probably would have refused to go on anyway. Dontcha know all these BS jobs fall on the shoulders on the chgo police!? (sarcasm)
Dispatchers need to do ride alongs in the busiest districts in the city instead of sitting on their fat asses thinking they know what is going on in the streets or how jobs are handled. I know they have time restrictions for dispatching jobs but why do they keep banging you when your on traffic stops, jeapordizing your safety by taking away your attention from the matter at hand just to ask if its going to be a TVB. why do they always have to have snotty attitudes and then get pissed when you give it right back. My bosses are great and if they ask me to do my job which includes traffic stops, I'm sorry mr. dispatcher but I am not here to help you do your job and clear your board. I am not a dog I take every job cranky pants gives me and I do not stay on jobs excessively. I clear when the job is done. I even bring snacks to work because I know sometimes the only lunch I may get is the closest place to the last place I cleared a job from. Thank god McDonalds now serves salads. No wonder a lot of P.O's are overweight, fast food is all we can eat without staying down on jobs. In some shithole districts P.O.'s have to bring lunches so they don't have to eat in a rat infested, unsanitary place for dinner. How unhealthy is it for anyone to scarf down a meal, jump back in the car and keep handling jobs non stop until you go home.
Anyway my point was get those dispatchers on a one week ride along just to give them a taste of reality.
1120s response was hilarious. who cares anymore? i would have asked for back up, a supervisor on the scene with a taser, filled out a trr afterwards and notified news affairs. maybe monique could have briefed amy jacobson on my heroic deeds and i cold finaly get that deserved DC to go with my crime reduction ribbon. woooooo hooooo!!
Just dup it to animal control.
Anonymous said...
they need to stop detailing beat cars in 008 and 009 to alderman's houses. and stop detailing 2 cars to daley's house in 001. and wherever else that bullshit is going on.
7/20/2007 07:08:00 PM
TRU should handle those details, since they don't answer calls anyways.
Zone 10 (1st) is always a hoot. Lupe keeps things solid & 1130 needs to retire.
7/20/2007 01:36:00 PM
Zre you kidding? This guy is a jackass. I think he blows his load everytime he clears his board.
He comes on the air and then fires off multiple jobs just to clean up "his" board. He overloads cars with jobs, stacking them left and right just so he can be happy that he cleared up "his" board. Does not give a shit that he loads up cars with calls and then when the bt car gets to the 4th or 5th call in their stack and get's bitched at or gets a cr because the poor citizen is pissed about the time good for him not his fault its the pos fault.
It is also great that he dumps calls on the guys on 3rd watch right before check off.
time :2258 hours
Lupe: 1123
1123: go ahead
Lupe: On your way in can you check on this Criminal Sexual Assualt?
I got a good one for you:
Beat Car (002): Squad, we have an apparent suicide!
Dispatcher: What's the condition of your victim?
**********************
This is a good one from 018:
3 people get shot on N. Cleveland and the media helicopters hover over the scene in the early morning hours of another fine day in the hood:
Dispatcher: 1810 or 1820 for a message
Sarge: Go ahead, squad
Dispatcher: Yes, Mr. Brown is calling from 1230 N. Larabee and wants to know why those "planes" are so close to the building making all that noise?!
Sarge: Squad we're busy over here. Please tell Mr. Brown to call the FAA
hahahahahahahahaha!
A dispatcher once axed me if the down wires were live.
I told her I would check, but if I don't contact her in 2 minutes then the answer is "Yes"
I was dispatched to an assist the citizen, she needed a lightbulb changed!! No, the bulb did not get changed, and I guarantee she never called for bs again, probably hasn't even called 911 again.
9% of us that work the operations floor at the OEMC are overworked, underappreciated and yet still give 150% when we sit down at those consoles every day. We are just like the 99% of you coppers that are overworked, underappreciated and give 150% when you get into that squad car.
Wrong again, The non police working at 911 don' t have a clue how we work. The last 10 years have been hell. I'm leaving within the next 18 months, Hopefully I can get their without getting hurt because of the zone.
no diffrent than the calls from the pod people. During the past week two stand out, one for an ilegally parked car on Thomas the second "a man smoking and drinking an unkown beverage in the bus shelter at " not to mention the numerous calls of people drinking in front of liquor stores on the west side!!!!! can't count the number of those generated by the pod room to justify their existence.GET A CLUE POD PEOPLE just like the movie we can tell you aren't real
Anonymous said...
I agree that the cat call sounds ridiculous but does it occur to any of you that the woman who called may be bedridden or so alergic to cats that she may be nearly unable to breathe, that the cat somehow got into the house uninvited and is not hers - IOW's that to her, it is a life-threatening situation and she is unable to do anything about it herself, hence the call to 911. The scenario about finding her dead 2 days later during a well-being check isn't that farfetched. Similar things have happened. . . think of your own mother, grandmother, child, etc., wouldn't you want the police to help them if you couldn't? It takes only a minute and could prevent great harm. . . not everybody has somebody.
7/20/2007 07:25:00 AM
I...will...write....this....slowly...so...you....will....understand...NOT....a.....police.....matter.....fire....ambulance...can....be......called....for....difficulty....
breathing...animal....control....to....remove....ANIMAL...
I don't speak moron so the above explanation will have to do!
...will...write....this....slowly...so...you....will....understand...NOT....a.....police.....matter.....fire....ambulance...can....be......called....for....difficulty....
breathing...animal....control....to....remove....ANIMAL...
My comment above didn't display correctly, and I want to make myself clear to the moron who I was responding to...No one disagrees that the cat could theoretically cause harm and needed to be removed, BUT IT WAS NOT A POLICE MATTER. If a person has trouble breathing, that is what we have AMBULANCES for. Animal in a location where it shouldn't be, that is what ANIMAL CONTROL is for. Again, I don't speak moron, so I hope this explanation covers it!
About OEMC and your dispatchers:
-the camera watchers are all retired pos; no civilians.
-the callback unit (arp) is staffed by current pos on light duty, pending separation, or those otherwise unfit for street duty for whatever reason. These officers are obliged to handle the non emergency calls and simple reports, however a great deal of them simply send the calls over for dispatch regardless of the nature
-oemc philosophy, aided and abetted by cpd, is to dispatch jobs out to field units whose job it is to handle assignments. the job of the dispatcher is to clear the board, period, without regard for current conditions or circumstances of any given district.
If coppers resent that they are given 3-4 jobs at a time then they need to pressure THEIR superiors into changing policy, because its a CPD directive which allows and encourages dispatchers to do it. To "hold" jobs, no matter how stupid is essentially to "deny citizens their right to city services and may jeopardize life or property" (CPD's Charles Williams, who also directed that all patrol units be available until 15 minutes after the checkoff hour for jobs).
Currently 2 oemc dispatchers are on "administrative leave" for allegedly holding a priority job. They are facing termination. Viewed that way, can anyone blame the dispatchers for "clearing the board"--its their job and its what the CPD wants.
Please think carefully before placing blame on dispatchers for overloading coppers. The real culprits are spineless managers, from both oemc and cpd, who refuse to stand up to city hall and call out the smoke and mirrors game we all play every single day.
in response to the previous post about the job of oec....so, you stated that williams has given orders that po's can receive jobs until 15 minutes after the hour before the end of a tour of duty???so, who does that really apply to...just afternoons right...how many times are day units given anything other than parkers that are just codes with an hour left in there tour?? never!!!! so many times the dogs on days say as usual "squad i get off at xxxx time and this job is going to take me into overtime..can i get permission from sgt to handle this because i will be late for checkoff". and usually the job is like an accident or something that does not require a great deal of time or effort even with a tvb involved and usually there is at least an hour to hour and half(if you take into consideration that they are required to stay to 15 minutes past the hour)where the job could be completed. how many times do you hear the jobs are to be held per the day sgt for afternoons so days can go home??so, with this in mind and as you stated "the citizens cant be denied service" is this truely fair to the good citizens of chicago???should they have to wait even longer than normal because the dispatchers and sgt's hold everything but parkers/noise distrurbances and other bs for afternoons? but afternoons takes everything from csa to in progress jobs of people shot, men with guns, gang fights with bats, people stabbed all up until almost checkoff.for once i would like the dispatchers to hold everything but nonsense for midnights like they do for days so i can go home at a decent time as well. so as far as clearing the board and dispatching three to four jobs so you can clear the board and not make the good citizens of chicago wait. well, thats fine and dandy but does it really make any sense to clear the board and to give one unit 4 jobs that all could require an arrest???for example....bt 2612 take the accident with injuries and neither driver has a dl/insurance, then take the vice in progress with teens smoking weed on the good citizens poarch, and take the assault inwhich the tennant just threatened his landlord, and finally if those turn into nothing..take the holding the offender at dominicks with the four male juveniles..and i will stack some parkers for later.....so, here is a situation where all could be an arrest ..so should i deny the good citizens of chicago complete service and not do what i get paid to do and blow off the job so the dispatcher can clear her board?? never...i will give complete attention to the job and then guess what...the good citizens of chicago who i guess have been waiting along time to begin with with have to wait hours longer because the good dispatcher wanted to clear the boards and an arrest was made....so, then the jobs have to be reassigned for someone else. my point here is this...alot of these bs jobs by the call takers should be screened much better than they are. lawsuits because the call taker refused to take the call????well, more lawsuits for sure will come when giving out 4 jobs to clear the board when all are arrestable situations and the jobs are continued to be reasssigned and some one ends up getting killed. oec has always favored certain cars or specific people and those cars are well taken care of..while others are just hammered all night long..i know of certain people in my district who dated dispatchers on the zone or drank with them and the dispatcher would tell certain cars via the pdt that an inprogress job was pending..and you guessed it...squad hold me down on a traffic stop and sure enough no less than a minute later a call was given out to the rapid or closest bt car....dispatchers are completely to blame for the durkin park incident and i dont feel bad for the two facing seperation because they failed to ensure that someone whether it be tru/sos/or the closest district to the park and went on there zone to get help.or worst case if no one was available why couldnt they get assistance from lets say hometown/burbank oak lawn pds or attempt to get the sheriffs or isp to assist??im sure they would have helped out in a second and at least the situation could have been somewhat contained until cpd was available. signed a pissed off po
shit rolls down hill!! I'm a dispatcher and I take calls too. Let's just say we told that lady wait for animal control. Since we can't force fire to roll we rely on animal control and by the time they get there the lady's unconcious due to asthma attack or worse she dies. Who do you think is going to get blamed? the police? no how could you if we didn't send the job over to begin with. No they'll come to the call taker and ask why they didn't do their job. You think I'm going to take time off for you? I don't think so
To 7/20/2007 12:33:00 AM . I worked in the old COS and I can tell you that the cards got "lost" on the way from the call taker to the dispatcher. OEC has computers and calls cannot be erased. They are always in there somewhere. 12:55:00 AM is right. Since daley settles every friggin outrageous lawsuit, calltakers are afraid.
To 9:08 pm
the directive that Charles Williams put out applies to ALL shifts--every single car in the patrol division is to be available for jobs until 15 after the hour.
Field seargants outrank dispatchers--always have and always will--so any jobs that..."the dispatchers and sgts hold for afternoons" should be blamed on sgts, assuming one was consulted. Sgts are very sneaky; they often call up to the zone w cell phones or on pax or use pdts to make "silent" assignments (hold this for so and so or send so and so to such and such detail". This avoids having themselves appear to be the bad guy to the street coppers who know they are getting screwed by such and such assignment.
For dispatch purposes, silence by field sgts implies consent. For example, a unit may receive an unpleasant job at 10 minutes before they check off No radio objection by the sgt or higher rank essentially means its all good. Coppers would be surprised how many times the sgts do not object and its not cuz they arent listening. Its cuz no one in their right mind wants to be held accountable for someone not being serviced.
Any copper who feels he or she has been assigned a job unfairly, or otherwise objects, should seek the guidance of the field sgts and that includes stacking of jobs 4 deep. In all cases, its ultimately the field supervisors responsiblliy--not the dispatchers--to monitor, supervise, and engage during each tour of duty.
Durkin park may or may not turn out to be a lot of hot air. Before knowing, however, those who cast stones display prejudice, ignorance, and imprudence--something expected from the media and public but a bit harder to fathom from fellow coppers and dispatchers, both of which sit at the bottom of the dung pile in the heirarchy of the city.
Take it easy, Marissa......we ALL know it's you.
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