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DETROIT 911 OPERATORS UNDER FIRE: Woman dies after 5-year-old son’s call to 911 not taken seriously.
*A 911 dispatcher in Detroit is under investigation after refusing to take a 5-year-old seriously when he called about his dying mother. The Detroit Police Department promised a thorough investigation Friday after the transcripts of the call made national news last week.
Robert Turner, now 6, called 911 twice on Feb. 20 after his mother collapsed in her bedroom. The recording indicates his pleas were written off by operators as a prank. Robert's mother, 46-year-old Sherrill Turner, died of complications from an enlarged heart.
Relatives of Sherrill Turner, who had 10 children, called for the immediate firing of the operator or operators involved and demanded that dispatchers be trained to handle calls from young children more effectively.
"From now on, when a child calls 911, they need to follow up, no questions asked," one of Robert's older sisters, Anitra Turner, told the Detroit Free Press.
Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings released a statement Friday urging the public not to rush to judgment, saying residents "can be assured that our department is meticulously examining every aspect of what occurred."
Robert, who was alone with his mother, first called 911 about 5:59 p.m. An operator told him to bring an adult to the phone. Robert told the operator he couldn't. The exchange, according to the transcript, is as follows:
Dispatcher: "Emergency 911, what's the problem?"
Robert: "My mom has passed out. ..."
Dispatcher: "Where's Mr. Turner at?..."
Robert: "Right here."
Dispatcher: "Let me talk to him."
Robert: "She's not gonna ... she's not gonna talk."
Dispatcher: "OK, well I'm going to send the police to your house and find out what's going on with you. ..."
According to the Detroit Free Press, the police never arrived. At 9:02 p.m., Robert called back.
Robert: "My mom has passed out. ..."
Dispatcher: "Where's the grown-ups at?"
Robert: (Inaudible)
Dispatcher: "Let me speak to her before I send the police over there."
Robert: "She's not gonna talk. ..."
Dispatcher: "Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you going to be in trouble."
Robert: "Ugh." (Hangs up.)
Robert later told the Free Press that he was scared and hung up the phone. One of the boy's older sisters, Delaina Patterson, who lives in Novi, said police arrived at the home after 9 p.m.
"From what I understand they were dispatched to a call about a child playing on the phone," Patterson said. Robert's mother was found dead. It was not clear at what point she died or whether she was alive when Robert made the first call.
Union local president Kimberly Harris is supporting one of the operators involved, and explains that more than 25% of calls that 911 operators receive are pranks.
"Every call, you have somebody's life in your hands," said Harris, a 911 operator who leads the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1023. "If I had an emergency, I would want her to be on the other end of the line. I will swear to that."
Detroit City Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins told the Detroit Free Press that the council has not had many complaints about the city’s 911 system, but she described this incident as gross negligence, stating, "It's not up to her to decide if it's a prank or not."
