Collection 1
This is collection 1 of an amazing library of 9-1-1 audio files compiled by my late friend, Gary Allen of Dispatch Magazine Online (DMO). Provided by permission. Thank you for everything Gary.
Off-duty officer calls to report he and his wife might have ingested marijuana brownies, and he sounds toasted. (Original description from DMO)
In Jan. 2007 five residents in Abingdon (Md.) died in a house fire, reported by several 9-1-1 calls. There was some criticism that the Harford County comm center took several minutes to dispatch fire units, but officials said an uncertain address only delayed units by seconds. (Original description from DMO)
Colorado Pool Save
A mother reports her infant child was just grabbed and taken away; police later determined the kidnappers took the child as leverage for an unpaid loan. There was criticism of the dispatcher’s handling of the call. (Original description from DMO)
Bakersfield, California - Kidnapping
An El Mirage resident dials 9-1-1 to report finding a rocket launcher, but the dispatcher tells him to call his local police department on a non-emergency line. (Original description from DMO)
In July 2007 11 year-old Rayshaun Wagner called 9-1-1 from a closet at his Jacksonville (Fla.) home to report that someone was breaking into his home. Wagner set off the home’s burglar alarm manually, then grabbed his 5 year-old brother and hid in a closet as he talked to sheriff’s dispatcher Sydney McClurkin. The call captures the police arriving. Read more here. (Original description from DMO)
Lorna Jeanne Dudash in Aloha (Ore.) dialed 9-1-1 to ask for the name of a “cute” Washington County sheriff’s deputy she had just encountered. The deputy returned to her house and arrested her. (Original description from DMO)
In March 2007 Monica Hudson dialed 9-1-1 when she became trapped inside an automated car wash building on 24th St. in Port Huron (Mich.) when the machinery stalled. The dispatcher talked to her for several minutes. Finally another patron came through, pushed some buttons and the doors came open. (Original description from DMO)
In 2005 a Cincinnati (Ohio) mother dialed 9-1-1 to report her child had been abducted by the child’s father. The father allegedly had mental problems, and later killed the child. The dispatcher told the mother to return home and not to follow the father. The mother is now suing CPD. (Original description from DMO)
In Jan. 2007 a Vancouver (Wash.) man called to confess killing two persons with a knife. Dylon R. Peterson was arrested by arriving police. (Original description from DMO)
In May, 2006 a Clemson college student was found strangled to death in her apartment, and a student calls to report finding her body.
Teen car shooting
The Spanish-speaking parents of a 4 year-old girl who fell into a pool dialed 9-1-1 in Columbus (Ohio), but had trouble explaining what had happened and where they were. It took 2 minutes to conference in an interpreter. (Original description from DMO)
The unforgettable collection of radio logging tapes from the 1997 violent robbery of the Bank of America in Los Angeles. The radio traffic begins routinely, then an officer passing the bank notices the robbers and radios in “shots fired.” Then all breaks loose. (Original description from DMO)
In Feb. 2006 5 year-old Robert Turner called to say his mother was unconscious. However, dispatcher Sharon Nicols believed it was a prank call. Nicols and another dispatcher were later fired, and Nicols was charged with criminal neglect of duty. She was later convicted, but granted probation. Both calls are provided above, and watch a video from MSNBC with Turner’s attorney and a representative of the Detroit dispatchers’ union. (Original description from DMO)
On March 28, 2005 two persons were murdered in their bedroom in Volusia County (Fla.), and their 5 year-old daughter Tia Hernlen dialed 9-1-1 when she heard the gunshots. During the remarkable five minute call, the girl talked to Volusia County Sheriffs dispatcher Donna Choufani, who expertly handled the call.
Read a printed transcript of the call prepared by the press. (Original description from DMO)
Caller reports her daughters are creating a disturbance at home, and the dispatcher makes an inappropriate comment. (Original description from DMO)
Omaha (Neb.) in Jan. 2005 a couple, Janelle Hornickel and Michael Wamsley, were disoriented, under the influence of drugs, dialed 9-1-1 and couldn’t give their location after their truck ran into a snowdrift. Their bodies were found days later in the snow. (Original description from DMO)
This is a copy of the recording of the 9-1-1 call that Darlie Lynn Routier made from her home after being attacked during the early morning hours of June 6'th 1996. The 9-1-1 call was played during one of the detention hearings shortly after Ms. Routier was arrested. All we were able to get was a version that the State released to the public after state investigators contracted a firm to "Enhance" the tape. Family members who were at the hearing claim that there are now things missing from the tape that were heard during the hearing, for example when she is told by an officer arriving at the scene about her neck wound and her reaction when she sees her wound in the mirror. Others close to the case report that there is a difference in the length of the recording at the hearing as compared to what was released by the State.
Also the state contends that Mr. Routier slept through the incident but if you listen closely, you can hear him in the background. At one point he yells for Darlie to get towels. During the trial the state criticizes Darlie for using towels. She also talks to Damon who is still alive during the call.
Most of the media has had access to the police tape, and members of the defense have distributed copies. The media has been resistant to play the tape in its entirety because it is very disturbing. Several media outlets refused to play it because they are required to keep their reports balanced and this recording would cause too many listeners to support one side of the case.
This tape was played to the jury in pieces and not in full context. During this, the prosecutors insisted she was faking. Listen to the tape yourself in full context and without interruption and you will come to a different conclusion. (Original description from DMO)
The original 9-1-1 call from the Ramsey home reporting that the child was missing. (Original description from DMO)
In Feb. 2007 a San Antonio (Tex.) family noticed their infant was not breathing and dialed
9-1-1. The call was promptly answered at the police department, but the dispatcher then transferred the call to the EMS comm center, where a recording played for 4 minutes. (Original description from DMO)