"...why didn't a Nashville woman get the help that she needed?"

To most folks, actually witnessing the lack of concern, compassion and caring from this 911 operator probably came as quite a shock. The reality however-and I suspect that folks who've spent much time on the street will be nodding their heads in agreement here - is that for most people who must make the street their home, being at the bottom of the police's priority list is just another fact of homelessness and life at the low end of the socioeconomic ladder. I remember when Rodney King's beating was first flashed to the world. Then Amadou Diallo, along with countless other acts of perhaps less vicious, but nonetheless brutal beatings started being reported with regularity. None of these highly publicized "excessive force" incidents surprised me in the least; I had grown up around Detroit's "Big Four," a deeply feared group of plainclothes pigs - and I use that term in its most pejorative sense for these particular officers - and I hesitate to call them men, since they behaved like depraved animals most of the time - and watched them routinely and literally stomp the shit out of people unfortunate enough to be anywhere in the vicinity when they rolled up in those ugly Plymouth Grand Fury undercover cars the cops used in Detroit back then (to this day I go on high alert whenever I see one of those old ghetto cruisers rolling down the road). There was an alley by Clark Park, off of McKinstrey St, near Vernor highway and kind of close to the Ambassador Bridge into Canada, if memory serves me correctly, that was regularly patrolled by the Big Four and many's the time you could find teeth, blood spatters and clumps of hair in that alley after The Big Four finished wailing on some poor sap who'd been unlucky enough to have had a "discussion" with them. God help you if you were stupid enough to resist or get mouthy with them. I was about thirteen when I witnessed my first real incident of what most rational folks would consider police brutality and it's actually been a fairly commonly witnessed experience for most of my life. So when I hear comments made like the one the dispatcher got caught making, I can practically guarantee you that it wasn't our homeboy's first offense, nosiree. With all that said, I would offer up a contrast to the 911 operator with an officer and an incident that occurred yesterday down on Broadway near 4th Ave. Understand this should in no way be considered a defense of the reprehensible actions of the dispatcher and is mentioned only because of its contrast - at least to me - to what so many of us on the street recognize as typical behavior by authority figures when it comes to us. I received a call for assistance from Metro police lieutenant Andrea Swisher, who works with the Metro Police department. If you spend much time at all downtown, chances are that you've seen Lt. Swisher and may have even said hi to her, since she's about the friendliest officer I've found yet on Metro's force. She regularly patrols the area within the freeway loop downtown and you can usually find her zipping about on her Segway, chatting with folks, making sure people are safe, and - believe it or not - offering assistance to those experiencing homelessness. Lt. Swisher and I began informally working "together" a few months ago and now, when she has a situation that involves a person or persons experiencing homelessness that doesn't have a crime attached to it, she will often contact me to lend a hand. She's fair, she's upfront, she tells it like it is and she's also extremely compassionate when it comes to the less fortunate among us. I must say, this is a hugely refreshing change for me, not because all Metro officers prior to my interaction with her have been negative, they haven't, but because she smashes the stereotypical image I have of police officers in general, and those who have grown up in the street know exactly what I mean. I honestly believe Officer Swisher subscribes fully to the "serve and protect" ideal of police work and to that end, she does an amazing job. Yesterday's interaction is a case in point. She called me to assist with a young family who found themselves stranded in Nashville, with no way of returning back home to a town in Washington. The family of three, a man, a woman and a toddler in a stroller had already gone to Traveler's Aid and had been able to convince Helen that their story was legit - and when Helen is convinced, I don't need any additional convincing myself - but unfortunately, Traveler's Aid operates on a budget like the rest of us, and only had enough to send mom and baby back, leaving dad to raise the additional money by himself. The little family was "flying a sign" down on Broadway to gather enough money to purchase his ticket, which was over 200 bucks. Now if you're a panhandler in Nashville, you know right away that flying a sign on Broadway without a musical instrument in your hands will usually get you a quick visit by local authorities, who will usually tell you to take your effort elsewhere. I'm not sure that this is what attracted Lt. Swisher's attention initially, but I can just about bet that when she saw their sign and that baby, she felt it her duty to step in and help. That's when I got the call from her. When I arrived, I discovered that they'd traveled here with others to do some camping and exploring, something happened in that group and these three decided that they'd be better off away from the group. I don't know what happened and don't care, I only know that these three suddenly found themselves homeless in a strange city and were trying to return home as quickly as possible. I mentioned that it might take us a few days to raise enough money to send the man back and perhaps mom and baby could head home ahead of him, Officer Swisher adamantly stated she wanted the family to remain together. We arrived at a plan of action and I set off to begin exploring options. Happily, I was able to almost immediately raise the money needed to get hubby on the bus with wife and son, and they will be heading home today. But if it wasn't for the intervention by Officer Swisher, this family would almost certainly still be stuck on the streets of Nashville, trying to panhandle their way some 3000 miles to home. This isn't the first time Lt. Swisher has intervened and saved someone from almost certain and prolonged misery; she's out there all the time, doing similar things on the street every day she works them. I mention all this because it's important to recognize and celebrate the good work that some of Metro's Finest do out there on the streets every day. Like every police department in the country, there are good and not so good cops. Lt. Swisher is one good cop and I'm proud to think of her as a friend and as a colleague. I'm also greatly appreciative of her ability to chip away at my own - and possibly your - preconceived notions of how all police treat those without homes. 911 Officials Say No Excuse for Response

Posted: May 13, 2008 06:28 PM

Featured Videos 911 Officials Say No Excuse for Response

Sheila Jones, 911 caller

Terry Griffith, interim 911 director

Ronal Serpas, Metro Nashville police chief

911 Operator: 'I Don't Give a S***t' More 911 Tapes Show Lives Endangered

CLICK HERE TO TELL US ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD INVESTIGATE! Sign Up For NewsChannel 5 eNews

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 officials say the calltaker was a trainee who was fired back in March -- not for the comment, but for flunking his final exam.

"Does that say something about the environment at 911?" Phil asked Chief Serpas.

"Oh, I don't think so," he answered. "It says something about that individual employee."

Still, the chief says that comment alone would have been enough to fire him.

"That type of call, handled that way, particularly that statement if that came to me as a disciplinary question, oh, it would absolutely be termination."

Still, the biggest problem may not have been that comment, which Sheila Jones never heard.

It was a string of errors that effectively put her call for help on hold.

For example, police say it wasn't coded as a domestic violence incident. So, with other calls coming in, the officer initially assigned the call decided it wasn't his highest priority.

"I do not believe and I cannot believe that if officers thought they were responding to a domestic violence call in progress, they would have broken off to do something else," Serpas told Phil.

At one point, a kindly 911 operator did call Sheila back to check on her and let her know police would soon be there.

911: "Just stay inside. But if he shows back up, you call back on 911, OK?" Sheila: "OK." 911: "But they're coming to you, sweetie, OK?" Sheila: "OK."

The problem is: it wasn't true.

"That is an error," Griffith said.

"If an officer is not on the way, you don't tell them that?" Phil asked.

"No, we don't."

Then, at shift change, the 911 computers deleted records about Sheila's call.

"This poor woman," said Serpas, "was not given the service she needed in our community. Anybody who thinks she did is wrong."

Sheila asked, "I'm a taxpayer. I pay bills. Where is my money going. Who is protecting me?"

She says she fears that the one 911 operator's comment speaks volumes about how they feel about the people they are supposed to serve.

"How would you feel if that had happened to your wife?" Phil asked Serpas.

The chief answered, "I think my job is to wonder what we would do to make sure it doesn't happened to anybody's wife."

Griffith said she feels "terrible about it. I don't want that to happen to anybody that needs us. And I really apologize to her."

The 911 director said that every time there's a mistake, it's used for training to make sure that the mistakes are not repeated.

This, she added, will definitely be a learning experience.

911 Operator: 'I Don't Give a S***t' (Listen to 911 Calls)

More 911 Tapes Show Lives Endangered (Listen to 911 Calls)

Mayor Replaces 911's Interim Director

Chief 'Mad as Hell,' Leads to 911 Shakeup

Back to NC5 Investigates: 911 Emergency Back to NewsChannel 5 Investigates