Milwaukee 911 investigation, anonymous employee speaks out

MILWAUKEE - It is a system designed to answer every call for help.

But when a 99-year-old woman needed help earlier this week, and call takers could hear her being physically threatened, Milwaukee police officers weren't dispatched to respond immediately until two-and-a-half hours later – after the victim dialed 911 herself.

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This past week, the City Department of Emergency Communications launched an internal investigation into what went wrong.

Now, FOX6 News is gaining more perspective on the department from those who work there.

99-year-old woman attacked

The backstory:

Within 12 seconds, a third-party answering service told a call taker at the City of Milwaukee's Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) on Monday, July 27, that a woman was in danger.

"911, what is your emergency?" a call taker asked.

"This is VIIZ National Emergency Center Operator 20314," the third-party dispatcher said. "I currently have my caller on hold. There is an ongoing domestic violence issue."

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The two began discussing the situation when the call taker sought more information.

"Did they ever confirm that there was a physical fight, or you're just hearing what you believe is a physical fight going on?" a call taker asked.

"I can take them off hold, and you can hear, too," the third-party dispatcher said.

"No, I'm asking did you ever speak to them," the call taker responded. "Did they ever confirm to you that that was what's going on?"

"No, no, no voice contact," the third-party dispatcher said.

Minutes later, a second call taker did hear it when that same third-party dispatcher called back. She patched in live audio from a device the woman had in her house.

A man could be heard yelling, "Shut the [expletive] up! I'm gonna beat the [expletive] out of you!"

Still, police and fire did not respond until more than two-and-a-half hours later, when the 99-year-old victim picked up the phone herself.

"I've been attacked. I need help," the victim said after calling 911.

Only then, when call takers at the department heard from the victim directly, did an employee elevate the call to require an immediate response.

Anonymous employee

What they're saying:

That delay launched an internal investigation. It has also caused frustration among current employees, one of whom agreed to share their insight with FOX6 News.

FOX6 News agreed to conceal the person's identity and voice because we're concerned about jeopardizing their job. Still, they felt strongly that the public needs to hear what they described as an "issue in the workplace."

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We first asked how they would have handled these 911 calls differently.

"Looking at that and trying to put myself in that moment, I would have called my supervisor immediately. I understand that, I know that we can only enter it as a certain call type, but I would've called my supervisor and said, 'Hey, I need you to listen to this. I know that they're not saying this, it's third party, but you've gotta listen to this. It seems like it might be bigger than it is. It's been sitting. We need to get somebody out there.' I would've definitely pushed it through to my supervisor and said it needs to be looked at," the anonymous employee said.

How calls are classified

Dig deeper:

In the City of Milwaukee, 911 calls to the city's Department of Emergency Communications are answered by employees known as universal call takers, or UCTs. Think of them as triage. It is their job to get a location, a call-back number and figure out what is going on before passing that call to a police or fire dispatcher to handle the appropriate response.

The information they obtain helps classify the calls on a scale from 0 to 9, most serious to least serious. Calls rated 0, 1 and 2 require an immediate response. This call, which was labeled a welfare check, registered a 3 rating.

The employee we spoke with said they think call takers are too focused on moving the calls to dispatch – which helps the department meet national standards for response times – when they should be focused on getting all the necessary information.

"I can tell by the text that's entered in these calls as they're being sent over that we're not asking the questions effectively, in the right order," the employee said. "It's more of a conversation, and they're not getting the meat of who, who we're going to, what's going on, how long did this happen, where did it happen. We're not asking those questions. We're just focused on getting the call in, and a lot of times, it leads to a strain on resources because we're not entering calls correctly and having to send them as high priority, when UCTs could ask more questions to get the information."

"Rigorous training"

What they're saying:

Earlier this week, FOX6 News sat down with Tony Bueno, the department's director.

Bueno said he does not think call takers are prioritizing speed over details. He adds the entry-level position, which he calls the "hardest" in the department, receives "rigorous training."

"They have an eight-to-10 week training program. It includes, you know, basic CAD, the computer-aided dispatch system. It includes your calling and questions. What, how do you process every type of call we have, from a vehicle burglary to a welfare check to a battery? It also now includes the medical dispatch. There's a week of intensive medical training to get them up to speed on how to navigate the protocols and what medical questions and instructions to give," Bueno said.

Bueno said the investigation will reveal whether that training is sufficient. It could end with the employees receiving more training, being suspended or even fired.

Need for change?

What's next:

The employee FOX6 interviewed said there is a clear need for better training.

"This change needs to start with hiring the best people for this job," the employee said. "They need to be given the proper training, the most effective training, the tools that they need to do this job well."

The employee also made clear they want to instill confidence in the public.

"Know that there are many of us at the DEC, many, many, many of us at the DEC that care about what we do," they said. "We put our heart and soul into this job. This job is a lot of sacrifice, but we're here to do the job."

Bueno said the two call takers on administrative leave will likely be interviewed sometime this week.

Department policy requires the employees to have up to 10 days before sitting for the interview. He adds that the department will be transparent with the findings of its investigation.

Employees sought

What you can do:

FOX6 News wants to hear from more current and former employees from the city's Department of Emergency Communications.

If that is you, or someone you know, you can email FOX6's Sam Kraemer at Sam.Kraemer@FOX.com. You can remain anonymous.

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