Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/17/2011 12:25 AM EDT
- leolaw
- Posts: 4
- First: 7/17/2011
- Last: 5/31/2012
So I called 911 the other day to report that my car's window got smashed and some of my personal property was stolen. At the end of my phone conversation with the dispatcher, I asked if she was sending a police over to write up a report and she said she would. So I waited, waited and waited for over an hour but nobody has ever shown up, and I just went home and reported the incident at my local police station at Brighton the next morning. It's ironic when the clerk asked me why didn't I report it to the A1 district, which was where my car was being vandalized. I just stared at her in point blank and told her that I called 911 and the cops never showed up after over an hour.
The dispatcher didn't even ask if anyone was injured, or if there was any potential threat in the surrounding area, which I think was very unprofessional, don't you guys think so? Luckily it was only a petty crime; but what happen if it was something more serious where the life of a person was put into question? And until the time of my writing, the Boston Police has yet given me a phone call to follow up with the failure of their appearance, which I find it to be ridiculous consider their duty is to provide public safety to the Boston residents.
It was the first time I called 911 for car theft in Boston. But is it true that Boston Police usually don't dispatch police for vandalized auto crime? Then I wonder why the dispatcher would make an empty promise knowing that the Boston Police wouldn't fulfill the request and left me hanging on the street for an hour.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/17/2011 12:30 AM EDT
- leolaw
- Posts: 4
- First: 7/17/2011
- Last: 5/31/2012
I am just curious if I could listen to the conversation that I had with the 911 dispatcher. Is it available somewhere online? anyone knows?
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/17/2011 5:58 AM EDT
It sounds like they did not consider your situation a 911 emergency, they should have expressed that to you and instructed you how to proceed. I know they show up for motor vehicle accidents, but as long as noone is hurt I'd call the non-emergency # and it may take a little while if they're busy. I think all 911 calls are recorded, how you can go about listening to them I don't know. I would have just gone to the nearest police station, filled out a report, take pictures and call my insurance company, get an estimate on the damage, etc. Good luck.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/17/2011 7:27 AM EDT
- The-Chief
- Posts: 1
- First: 12/22/2009
- Last: 5/25/2013
The more things change, the more they remain the same. 1972 I was attending college in Boston, lived on South Street, JP when apartment was broken into. I called police and got no response. I had to stop a cop car on the street. Later two detectives showed up. One was a dapper dan and drunk. The detective scatterd fingerprint dust all over dresser and said no prints could be found and left. One cop said they get so many burglary calls late afternoon as people come home they can't handle them all.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/17/2011 12:59 PM EDT
- leolaw
- Posts: 4
- First: 7/17/2011
- Last: 5/31/2012
yea, i figured that it wasn't an emergency, so maybe that's why they did not show up. Had the dispatcher said she would not send someone over, I would not have waited for an hour and would just deal with that the next day. I stayed there so that they wouldn't think that I was doing a prank call and got fined for dialing 911.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/17/2011 2:51 PM EDT
First, i don't know why 1972 was important to mention. Its not like a cop showed up and was drunk. Times have changed, and I don't think its important to trash the cops that didn't show up because they were not dispatched in this case. Anywho, the dispatcher should have been more forthcoming if the was an excessive wait or no response. However, like everything else, the dispatch system is computer based, and anyone who has a computer knows that it could have been a glitch just as much as a mistake on the call taker. Boston is usually great about responding in my dealings with them in the past. But it is a major city, that is short handed in a violent summer...so you never know. I have relocated to Sacramento recently, and they don't even respond unless it is a in progress call. Everything else is an online report. They don't even print unless its a felony, and they have time. And when they do respond, its up to 48 hours sometimes. Sorry you had a bad expirience with that call, but Boston is still far better then alot of other cities.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/17/2011 9:07 PM EDT
- tomhum64
- Posts: 1
- First: 7/17/2011
- Last: 7/17/2011
Of course not, cuz they're busy standing in group of 3-4 doing lucrative details by talking to each other and watching workers digging hole. Then if you call back they'd say that officers were sent to more important matters. I think ALL HOME OWNERS should not pay their property taxes to protest the way the police dept. run their businesses!
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/18/2011 7:32 AM EDT
- miscricket
- Posts: 2924
- First: 1/14/2011
- Last: 5/25/2013
This is a perfect example of how people abuse the 911 system. With all due respect..you called 911 to report property damage..? You do realize that all police departments have non emergency telephone numbers ...right..? You do realize that 911 is for emergencies only..? You do realize that if police dispatchers have to take 911 calls from people like you...then it delays response to the person down the street who may be having an actual emergency.
It's unfortunate that you were "inconvenienced" and that you were a victim of property damage..but police departments have to assign priority to calls..and my guess is that the BPD has much to worry about and that past property damage is not high on the list. I guess, alternatively..you could have visited the police department to fill out a report.
This post has been removed.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/18/2011 12:12 PM EDT
- jackbu
- Posts: 2979
- First: 4/9/2011
- Last: 5/25/2013
You need to use the business line for these calls. The call was non emergency and they have bettet things to do.
Keep your personal belongings in the trunk, or well hidden if you drive a suv. This is most likely why you had this happen, things were in plane sight.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/18/2011 2:23 PM EDT
My car was stolen and showed up totaled in Dorcester. I went to that station to report it, and the assholes- interrogated me as if I was the criminal (ie, as if I faked it for insurance purposes).
They didn't seem to understand that because it was an old car on its last legs, I didn't bother covering it against theft. (It was worth about the same as my yearly insurance cost...).
They, naturally, never bothered to so much as run prints. Even though a bunch of electronics were ripped out and they had a decent chance of lifting them from the surrounding flat plastic surfaces.
I think that is a valid complaint.
But you called 911? Huh? You don't call 911 for a smashed window...unless perhaps you're in the car whne it's being smashed.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/18/2011 2:42 PM EDT
In Response to
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...:
I am just curious if I could listen to the conversation that I had with the 911 dispatcher. Is it available somewhere online? anyone knows?
Posted by leolaw
Well, I do know those calls are recorded but I'm not sure how/whether a private citizen can get his own call.
In criminal cases, the defense lawyer should always request the 911 "turret tapes" as they are called. The prosecutor is the one to obtain them from the police, generally, as the defendant will file a motion for their disclosure.
That obviously is not your situation.
I would hop on mass.gov and research.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/19/2011 1:30 PM EDT
- IheartJohn
- Posts: 23
- First: 7/8/2010
- Last: 5/24/2013
leolaw you did not deserve to be treated so badly by the Boston police department. You probably interrupted their donut run.
Re: Boston Police never showed up after the dispatcher said they would...
posted at 7/20/2011 9:21 PM EDT
- bigbuzz
- Posts: 6
- First: 10/18/2009
- Last: 7/20/2011
Leolaw get over it, you have never been lied to before, if so get out more often as everyone no matter who they are lies just to shut you up. Your issue is not on the priority list an no one got hurt. It was just a car break and your insurance company will deal with it. Do you realize how many car breaks there are in the city? Too many. The court does nothing about those who get busted anyway. As mention before do not tie up the 911 lie as it is for real emergencies.
