Forensic Victimology 2nd Edition

Chapter Three: 9-1-1 Emergency Response

9-1-1 Emergency Response

• Nine-one-one (911) is the number that people in the United Stated call to obtain assistance from government funded agencies that provide police, fire, and emergency medical services.

• It is a number that is reserved for emergencies only; therefore, it is intended to triage citizen requests for immediate rescue from dire circumstances.

• 9-1-1 is largely funded by local, state, and federal tax revenue.

History• The idea of a universal emergency number took

shape in 1957, when the National Association of Fire Chiefs suggested an easy to remember phone number to report fires.

• The notion was formalized in 1967, when the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration recommended the establishment of a nationwide number for emergencies of all types.

Enhanced 9-1-1• E9-1-1 is the improved emergency response

system. • It routes each call to the appropriate 9-1-1

jurisdiction or answering point while simultaneously providing the caller’s location and phone number.

• This includes cell phone information.

Duties• 9-1-1 operators, sometimes referred to as

dispatchers, have specific obligations and responsibilities to their callers.

• Obligations and responsibilities include: • Taking the call, • Obtaining caller information quickly, • Triaging the call, • Summarizing the call, • Staying on the line, • Updating information, • Avoiding non-pertinent detail, and • Maintaining professionalism.

The 9-1-1 Call as Authority and Evidence

• 9-1-1 dispatchers have the power to shape all other responding agencies impressions, conclusions, and attitudes.

– Dispatchers have an obligation to be mindful that words like homicide, suicide, and accident have forensic implications and should be avoided when possible.

• 9-1-1 calls are recorded by the system and become important documentary evidence of statements, caller knowledge, the occurrence of background events recorded during the call, and timelines.

The 9-1-1 Call as Authority and Evidence

• Recordings are used by investigators, attorneys, and the courts as evidence to inform decision-making, implicate suspects and even to exonerate the innocent.

• 9-1-1 calls are generally entered into evidence under the excited utterance exception to the admissibility of hearsay evidence.

Emergency System Challenges

• There are universal challenges experienced by every 9-1-1 emergency response system. The top three tend to be:

1. Personnel

2. Budgets

3. False alarms

The Consequences – Emergency response to victims can be delayed or non-

existent;– More victims can suffer from more crime, or extended

episodes of victimization;– Victims can die waiting for a response, or due to the

negligence of those involved in the response;– 9-1-1 dispatchers can suffer mental health consequences that

go unrecognized and unattended – leading to more of the above;

– Criminals can become emboldened by reliable delays in emergency response;

– The public can lose confidence in the emergency response system, and vote to defund it, making a bad situation worse.