RSS911 Officials Say No Excuse for Response
Carolyn Hileman - The Voice* | May 17, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Our exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation first uncovered a 911 call that’s now the talk of the country.
So why didn’t a Nashville woman get the help that she needed?
That’s what our chief investigative reporter Phil Williams has been investigating — and he had some tough questions for city officials.
As we first revealed, when Sheila Jones needed help, help never came.
That despite repeated calls to Metro Nashville’s 911 over a three-hour stretch about an ex-boyfriend who’d assaulted her and was threatening to come back.
Sheila to 911:”They ain’t sent nobody. I just don’t understand. Is it ’cause I’m black? Is it ’cause of the neighborhood. What is it?”
And our investigation discovered, this is how one of the last calls ended:
Sheila: “I’m scared to even leave out my f***ing house.”
911: “OK, ma’am, I updated the call. We’ll get somebody there as soon as possible.”
Sheila: [Hangs up.]
911: “I really just don’t give a s**t what happens to you.”
When Phil Williams played that tape, it was the first time she’d heard that remark.
“I think I’m more hurt than I am mad that my life didn’t mean a damn thing to them,” she said.
Phil asked Metro’s interim 911 director Terry Griffith, “What kind of excuse is there for that?”
“None, it’s awful,” she responded.
Griffith also hadn’t heard those words until we began our investigation. All her staff had given her was a report that described it in general terms.
“I think that generally we choose to say inappropriate remark, unacceptable remark,” she said.
“But this was really inappropriate,” Phil interjected.
“Totally inappropriate,” she agreed.
And when Phil played it for Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas, it was the first time that he had actually heard it for himself.
“Yeah, I’ve heard about that,” the chief said. “And my understanding is the employee is no longer with us.”
Phil asked Griffith, “Was he fired right on the spot?”
“No,” she admitted, “I don’t think he was fired right on the spot, no.”
911 Operator: ‘I Don’t Give a S***t’
(Listen to 911 Calls)
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