2
Detroit officers suspended, 1 commander demoted over response time
DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) - Betty’s
daughter called 911 after a fight escalated outside their house. Officers did not respond for 90 minutes, and
ended up being too late to help her.
“If police had come when my
daughter started calling them, I believe it would have prevented right then,
the shooting,” said Betty. We are not
using Betty’s last name to protect the identity of her daughter.
A man shot Betty’s 37-year-old
daughter with an AK-47. The bullet
ripped through her daughter’s chest, through the window frame, and all the way
into the fridge. A neighbor drove her to
the hospital before police even showed up to the house.
“She told the guy next door
please don’t let me die,” said Betty.
When the dispatcher finally
sent out officers, the cruiser arrived within 8 minutes. Betty said the man had shot her daughter five
minutes before police got to the house.
Her daughter is still in critical condition.
“It’s blessing that she made
it, you know. It really is,” said Betty.
The shooting is the second time
over the past four months where a 911 dispatcher failed to follow
protocol. Detroit Police Chief James
Craig said another incident stems from May when a dispatcher failed to send out
a car for a domestic dispute for 90 minutes and a woman was stabbed to death.
Chief Craig said both of the
dispatchers have been suspended without pay and he is seeking criminal charges
against one of them. Chief Craig also
said he demoted the commander of 911 and reassigned him because maintenance
issues were also discovered with the system.
“We’re in the business of
saving lives and certainly if our inaction results in injury or death, that’s
problematic. That’s unacceptable,” said
Chief Craig.
Those are words that people
like Betty are counting on so others don’t have to share her pain and
suffering. The chief said he is
reviewing the entire system to make sure priority one calls are responded to
immediately by officers.