This browser does not support the Video element.
Milwaukee 911 review after delayed response, employee discharged
At least one employee lost their job following a City of Milwaukee investigation into the mishandling of a 911 call, according to documents reviewed by FOX6 News.
MILWAUKEE - At least one employee lost their job following a City of Milwaukee investigation into the mishandling of a 911 call, according to documents reviewed by FOX6 News.
Employee discharged
What we know:
The employee was discharged on Friday, Aug. 21, the same day the Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) announced it had concluded its investigation.
The employee was one of the two universal call takers that took a pair of 911 calls from a third-party dispatch service, alerting them that a 99-year-old woman was in danger near 14th and Cudahy on the morning of July 27. The third-party dispatcher told the city's universal call taker they believed the situation could be a domestic call.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
When the dispatcher called 911 a second time minutes later, they patched in audio in which a man can be heard threatening a woman, yelling, "Shut the [expletive] up! I'm gonna beat the [expletive] out of you!"
Milwaukee home invasion; elderly woman beaten, man charged
A man is accused of breaking into a 99-year-old woman's Milwaukee home and beating her, the delayed response leading to an internal investigation.
Though the call takers told the third-party dispatcher that police were on it, they didn't arrive until more than 2.5 hours later — after the woman dialed 911 herself.
"I've been attacked. I need help," the victim said after calling 911.
The two employees — the call takers — were subsequently placed on paid administrative leave while the DEC launched its internal investigation.
Milwaukee 911 operators on leave after delayed response to home invasion
The director of the City of Milwaukee's 911 call center admitted his team dropped the ball when employees did not dispatch police or fire resources to a battery-in-progress earlier this week.
Policies and procedures
Big picture view:
Documents reviewed Tuesday by FOX6 News showed the DEC told the employee they violated department policies and procedures, including neglect of duty. DEC Director Tony Bueno told FOX6 in July he thought there was enough in just listening to the calls.
When the call takers entered the call into their system, they both classified it first as a welfare check. That registers as a Level 3 on the department's call classification scale, which rates calls on the level of their severity from 0–9. Calls rated zero through two receive an immediate response.
Still, Level 3 calls require police be dispatched within 15 minutes.
While the call itself was misclassified, help still should have arrived before it did. It is unclear why police dispatchers, who receive the call from the universal call taker, did not send a police response within 15 minutes.
Len Scrima is a retired dispatcher and trainer who spent 33 years working for the City of Waukesha.
"It's unbelievable. Things happen. Can two people make mistakes that quick, one after the other? I mean, they can. But I understand the call was entered — it wasn't a call that was written on paper and not entered for a couple of hours. It was actually entered from what I understand, and in that case then, that starts the process of the team being aware," Scrima said.
FOX6's Sam Kraemer asked Scrima whether removing an employee considered to be entry-level by DEC is enough to instill confidence in the public that this issue won't happen again.
Milwaukee 911 investigation, trends emerge from anonymous employees
The Milwaukee Common Council is on its August recess, but the investigation into the mishandling of a 911 call last month may end that break early.
"What happened in the chain that one person, and then a second person that came in, and only those two were really involved in this and are the ones that are answering to it? I would think that there's maybe more to it," Scrima said. "So no, I don't have the confidence that that's going to handle anything. It actually makes me more nervous to wonder, well then, could this happen again?"
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
Press conference scheduled
What's next:
We could learn answers to those outstanding questions as soon as Wednesday.
The DEC called a morning press conference on Wednesday where Bueno will detail the findings of his investigation. A media advisory said the DEC will also explain its "extensive training and competency requirements for emergency communications personnel."
The press conference is scheduled for 9 a.m.
The Source: FOX6 cited previous reporting and information from the Department of Emergency Communications (DEC), and talked with Len Scrima, a retired dispatcher and trainer, to produce this story.