lj brain trust help!

[kimatha]

This question is for cappsize and solcita, but of course, anyone who knows the answer should chime in!

Someone calls 911 because there's an intruder trying to break into her apartment. Caller is reasonably calm (scared, but not hysterical) - calm enough to say, "This is X, I'm calling from Y Address, and someone is trying to break into my house."

What questions do you ask? How would the call go?

The person is someone she knows - he's actually violating a restraining order. He's yelling her name and throwing himself against the door trying to break it down. The door is deadbolted and chained, but the construction of the apartment is so flimsy that the area around the doorknob is starting to come apart from repeated banging. Oh, and it's the middle of the night. 3 AM. And the apartment building does not have a secured entrance - it has doors to the units on the outside. And the break-in is happening at a ground level apartment.

Comments

[polarbear.livejournal.com]

Do you think the person has a weapon?
Have they done this before?
Are they known to be violent?
Are you armed?
Is there anything you can move in front of the door and/or can you retreat to a smaller, more secure room in the apartment room?

This is while I'm sending at least two units to the address code three, assuming I'm the dispatcher. :)

911 call

[destinhomey.livejournal.com]

First, ask if she has a gun and knows how to use it. If yes, tell her to call back when he is dead. If no, tell her to lock herself in another room or go out a window and assure her the police are on the way there;

Re: 911 call

[solcita.livejournal.com]

We never, ever say "police are on their way", even if they are. We say "they'll be there as soon as they can". The first can cause tremendous liability headaches.

[cappsize.livejournal.com]

Everything Polarbear asked.

Plus I'd get anything she could tell me on him so I could run him myself & KNOW what he's done in the past. Main thing would be to find out what priors, what weapons my guys are going to deal with, & telling her to retreat & hide~~ & not just so the guy won't find her but so I can clue my people in where she's hiding & keep herself out of the way aka the line of fire. I'd tell her to retreat to the furtherest room, get in a closet, against the furtherest wall & stay on the phone with me. He's going to jail. I'd make sure she knew that. He's already violating a Protective Order, so he's going to jail. If she had a gun I'd try to gently find out if she knows what she's doing & I'd be telling my guys there was a female in the house & relaying all that to them about where she'd be at, if armed or not, etc. And I'd be trying to listen to the guy, too. Try to tell if he sounded drunk or high~~ trying to get background noises, like dogs barking, etc. So you can tell your guys as much as possible about what they're walking into. You have to try to see it with your ears.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

I own a shotgun. This isn't a problem.

[solcita.livejournal.com]

This is how I would envision the conversation at my comm center:

Her: "This is X, I'm calling from Y Address, and someone is trying to break into my house."
Me: "Do you know the person?"
Her:"Yes, it's my (exboyfriend, exhusband, psycho stalker, etc)"
Me: "Does he have any weapons?"
Her: "I don't know, he owns a gun but I haven't seen it tonight" (or whatever)
Me: "Are there any restraining orders against him?"
Her: "Yes, I have an order against him."
Me: "Do you know if he's been drinking or doing any drugs tonight?"
Her: "I don't know."
Me: "*hearing to the banging and yelling* Is that him I hear in the background?"
Her: "Yeah, he's trying to break the door down."
Me: "Is there another room you can go into where you'll be safer?"
etc, etc...
I'd also, since she knows him, get his name and DOB so I can run him (or at least get hers, since the order will come up either way and then I can get his information from that), and as polarbear said, ask if she's armed herself too. If she has, once the police show up and have either apprehended him or made sure he's gone, they'll have the dispatcher tell her to put the weapon down and then come out the front door to talk to them. If she's armed herself with a gun, in particular, they'll ask that she have her hands up where the officers can see them when she comes outside. The call receiver/dispatcher taking the call will stay on the phone with her the entire time, unless the phone gets inadvertently gets disconnected somehow.

[kitiara.livejournal.com]

Also, in the event he takes off, what does he usually drive and a basic description, as well as his address.

[solcita.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Yes, this too, of course. We have a standard line of questioning for descriptions and associated vehicles, I'd be smacked for forgetting it. :)