911 response time

[turnkey4099]

I've had someone knocking on my door at 5:00 AM, after leaving the road and almost ending up in the river; on another occasion, about 8:30 at night driving down a deserted highway in a major snowstorm 2 miles from the nearest home in either direction; I encountered two women standing on the side of the road trying to flag me down. They had gotten lost, and gotten a Ford Escort stuck about 1/2 mile up a woods road. Should I have chased the first guy off with a gun, and left the two women to die? That would have been a very likely outcome, as there was no other traffic on the road.

I never said that it was safe; however, I did state that with the information we originally had, Mr Rupert's comments were warranted.

Your scenarios aren't even close to the OP's. Youand the buy you refer to are so far off base in this you aren't even in view of the ball park.

I live right on a major highway. Have helped many people over the years and had just one go bad, let a family and their freiend in due to car rpoblems, It go a bit hinky to the point I called the state police to get them out of the house. Yep, warrant hit on one. My neighbor thinks I am waaayyyy to easy.

 

[turnkey4099]

Maybe it's because I'm from a rural area, versus a city or surburban area where superficial appearances are more important to some, but around here appearances don't mean sh*t!

The guy in ripped, dirty clothing may be a farmer worth $millions, and way more honest, trustworthy and hardworking than some conman that's nicely dressed like a TV minister or used car salesman.

Were I in the smae position as the OP I would talk to the guy through the back door but my 'friend" would be in my hand. He would also be standing 30' away talking to me before the door opened. There is a point where common sense comes into play.

 

[turnkey4099]

You did the right things.

I agree with your assessment that you should have told him the police were on the way. Any reasonable person would then say thank you and sit down and wait for the help they need. Even if it ended up being just a flat tire, the cops would assist you.

We've had it happen several times up here, too, people coming to the doors and asking if they could use the phone, and did similar to what you did, and offered to call the police for assistance. All of them declined the offer, so we called the cops anyway. Most were hauled off when the police arrived. :laughing: Fortunately, your county police station is 60 seconds from my house. :thumbsup:

8 minutes on a Sunday evening isn't bad response time at all. But it seems like an eternity when it's you that's waiting. Even my 60 second wait seems like forever when it's an emergency.

Most TBN members don't realize that you and I live on the western edge of the eastern time zone. It's light out at 9:30pm this time of year. Doesn't get dark until after 10pm. Probably helped the police catch him.

Yep. I had a controlled burn get away from me (wind came up). I'm only 4.5 miles from the fire sstation. Seemed like an hour before they showed up, probably more like 10 minuies.

 

[k0ua]

I know right? I cannot imagine a 30 min response time as others have stated.

Believe it. That is what the response time is around here in Taney county 20 to 30 minutes. It will all be over but the shouting by the time they get here.

Yeah, sure hard to believe the guy had warrants for his arrest... I mean what are the chances?

 

[Jstpssng]

Were I in the smae position as the OP I would talk to the guy through the back door but my 'friend" would be in my hand. He would also be standing 30' away talking to me before the door opened. There is a point where common sense comes into play.

You don't even need to open the door, a window works just as well. My dog is (probably) harmless as all get out but you wouldn't know it from his bark, and he would be contributing to the conversation.

Your scenarios aren't even close to the OP's. Youand the buy you refer to are so far off base in this you aren't even in view of the ball park.

I live right on a major highway. Have helped many people over the years and had just one go bad, let a family and their freiend in due to car rpoblems, It go a bit hinky to the point I called the state police to get them out of the house. Yep, warrant hit on one. My neighbor thinks I am waaayyyy to easy.

I don't see the difference. 5:00 in the morning to be woken up by somebody pounding on your door is different than somebody 9:30 at night when the house is lit up? Two women wrapped in blankets out in the middle of a snowstorm, without a car in sight, miles from the nearest house? Believe it or not, that night my BS meter was bouncing off the scales until I found out what was going on. It also was one of the few times that I wished I had my .357.

You did the right things.

I agree with your assessment that you should have told him the police were on the way. Any reasonable person would then say thank you and sit down and wait for the help they need. Even if it ended up being just a flat tire, the cops would assist you.

We've had it happen several times up here, too, people coming to the doors and asking if they could use the phone, and did similar to what you did, and offered to call the police for assistance. All of them declined the offer, so we called the cops anyway. Most were hauled off when the police arrived. :laughing: Fortunately, your county police station is 60 seconds from my house. :thumbsup:

8 minutes on a Sunday evening isn't bad response time at all. But it seems like an eternity when it's you that's waiting. Even my 60 second wait seems like forever when it's an emergency.

Most TBN members don't realize that you and I live on the western edge of the eastern time zone. It's light out at 9:30pm this time of year. Doesn't get dark until after 10pm. Probably helped the police catch him.

A reasonable person would do so, if there wasn't one person screaming while the other was saying that he was armed.


As I pointed out before, the OP's second post made the circumstances a lot clearer.

 

[Diggin It]

Not sure why this thread is hung up on ......

But I'll add a different perspective on response times.

911 line rings, caller is screaming their house is on fire and their three kids are trapped inside. You get the address off the display screen, take some basic information, then go to the radio console. Page the volunteer FD and ..... wait. And wait...... Bear in mind, this is the 3-4AM time period. Everybody is in bed worn out from long days at work. Have you ever tried to wake up at 3AM and be instantly functional? It takes a few seconds to even realize where you are and what you need to do. It can be a couple of minutes or so before anybody even gets to a radio to acknowledge the page as many volunteers only have pagers in the house and the radio may be out in their car.

OK, so you're sitting there with the caller on the phone trying to calm them as best you can while you're waiting for a reply from ..... anybody. Once you get that, you know that they still have to drive possibly several miles to get to the station and get the rig started. Most departments don't let a truck roll until at least two people are there. Then there's the drive time to the scene.

With any luck, your paid, full time EMS crew that you paged at the same time is a bit closer to the scene and can get there first. But, of course, they don't have water and turnout gear and air packs and whatever else the FD carries.

That's just one example. I won't go into the ones like where a guy is wandering around with a shotgun threatening to shoot himself. Again, well after midnight and you have to call a deputy out, which means waking them up also .... Once the deputy gets there, you have to call to Coroner.

 

[jjp8182]

Cut to the chase.. Start on page 12, section 3.4 to see identified problems with the Alabama 911 System.

https://al911board.com/sites/default/files/9-1-1 Long Term Plan v1 .pdf

Definitely an interesting read (though not much of a surprise) -- however, it doesn't apply to my parent's place as they're in Minnesota, and calling from a landline.

As for myself I figure whatever is going to happen is probably going to be over and done with before help arrives -- which is a mindset that link pretty much reinforces....... Of course my own situation is a bit more complicated (for various reasons) in the way that it may not always be wise to assume the individual in a police uniform is actually a law enforcement officer. The fact that there's recently been confusion about whether a couple individuals going around were actual sheriffs deputies or individuals impersonating law enforcement, as well as actual incidents of individuals impersonating law enforcement in the area also doesn't help the situation.

 

[davisgary2]

Been there done that as both an EMT and police officer. Many nights got woken up wife also EMT and I Would drive 12 + mins. To pick up ambulance and then 5 to 20 minutes to the scene. Thats a long time to wait but who can afford full time EMS FIRE OR PD in ryral NH.

 

[Dftodd]

Yeah, I have one dog who is actively hostile toward strangers. If I had an intruder, I would go for the first aid kit rather than a gun.

We have the lick-onator at the house. She's good for notification, and would probably go after someone if me or my wife were attacked. She has a deep bark and a growl that sounds like it originated in her toenails That growl will stand up the hair on your butt

I've only had her get aggressive towards one person though. And that was someone stringing new cable on the telephone poles on our street. He swore that every dog liked him and started to approach her. She backed up, did her stop and guard position (sideways with her body blocking me) and started growling something fierce.

 

[turnkey4099]

You don't even need to open the door, a window works just as well. My dog is (probably) harmless as all get out but you wouldn't know it from his bark, and he would be contributing to the conversation.


I don't see the difference. 5:00 in the morning to be woken up by somebody pounding on your door is different than somebody 9:30 at night when the house is lit up? Two women wrapped in blankets out in the middle of a snowstorm, without a car in sight, miles from the nearest house? Believe it or not, that night my BS meter was bouncing off the scales until I found out what was going on. It also was one of the few times that I wished I had my .357.


A reasonable person would do so, if there wasn't one person screaming while the other was saying that he was armed.


As I pointed out before, the OP's second post made the circumstances a lot clearer.

The additional information was not needed but it did enforce what the original posters thought about it...well except for a couple playing devil's advocate.