Cleveland Police Review Handling Of Amanda Berry's 911 Call
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 8, 2013 7:40PM
Photo credit: Handout via Getty Images
Martin Flask, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Safety, noted that while the dispatcher “did take the call, create an event and send it to the police dispatcher in less than 90 seconds,” allowing police to respond to the scene in less than two minutes, it’s what happened after that they’ll look at.
”While the call-taker complied with policies and procedures which enabled a very fast response by police, we have noted some concerns which will be the focus of our review, including the call-taker’s failure to remain on the line with Ms. Berry until police arrived on the scene. Please be assured that this matter will be investigated, and if necessary, appropriate corrective action taken.”
At issue here is why the dispatcher didn’t keep Berry on the line after the gravity of the situation became clear. Berry announced who she was, how long she had been missing and named suspect Ariel Castro as her captor, yet the dispatcher repeatedly tried to move on to response and told Berry to wait for police. The dispatcher also pressed Berry on her exact location at the time of the call.
As the blog The Inquisitr notes, the dispatcher’s handling of Berry’s call has generated controversy, including criticism from other 911 dispatchers. In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Charles Ramsey called the dispatchers morons.
Listen to Berry's 911 call below.
Berry's call led to the discovery of her, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Berry's 6-year-old daughter. Ariel Castro and brothers Onil and Pedro are being held in connection with the kidnappings.
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