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911 tape confirms quick response by dispatchers, police to armed robbery in Anderson
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ANDERSON COUNTY — A day after a media report regarding denial of access to a 911 tape, officials released the tape, saying the investigative need to withhold it has passed.
Taylor Jones, Anderson County director of emergency services and public safety, played tape of two 911 calls on Thursday, one from Jennifer Grimes and the other involving Dale Grimes. Both calls were received within 10 seconds of each other around 4:32 a.m. on Aug. 9.
In one call, a female 911 operator talks to Jennifer Grimes about Grimes’ version of what took place during a reported armed robbery at Anderson Crossing Apartments on East Beltline Boulevard in Anderson.
For 7 minutes and 7 seconds, the operator asks Jennifer Grimes to describe what happened, who was involved in the incident and the vehicles involved. Roughly 4 minutes and 11 seconds into the call, communication traffic from a responding city of Anderson police officer could be heard in the tape’s background noise.
In the second call, a man calls 911 for Dale Grimes, who starts speaking on the line seconds later.
During the call, Dale Grimes describes the robbery, of which he has said he was the victim in the Anderson Crossing parking lot, and his wife’s attempt to disrupt it by honking the horn on her car. When asked about the suspect’s clothing, Grimes told the dispatcher that he “was face down on the ground, looking straight down and not trying to be a hero.”
Frustration could be heard in Dale Grimes’ voice when the dispatcher asked if Grimes had ever before seen the men committing the robbery.
The cause of a brief pause in the middle of the tape of the second call was not immediately known Thursday. But officials said the two dispatchers who received the two calls probably were comparing notes and realizing that they were handling calls from the same incident.
According to 911 records, police were dispatched at 4:36 a.m. to Anderson Crossing and arrived three minutes later.
Dale Grimes, convinced that the response took longer than three minutes and that the robbery took place around 3:45 a.m., has said that he has made roughly 20 calls to the Anderson County 911 Dispatch Center in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain the 911 tape. He has said the tape, which he had not yet heard as of Thursday, provides proof that his call for help was unnecessarily delayed.
Matthew Littleton, deputy chief of communication operations and preparedness at the 911 center, said access to the tape is beyond the center’s control.
“We’re the gatekeeper, not the key holder,” Littleton said regarding calls that are recorded and timed by the center’s electronics.
And Jones said the center has no record of any messages or any information regarding calls from Dale Grimes requesting access to tape of 911 calls.
“A police officer told me to call the 911 center, and I left messages over and over,” Dale Grimes said Thursday.
In mid-August, Anderson County emergency services officials, citing an open investigation, denied an Independent-Mail request for a copy of the tape under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
Laura Johnson, administrative coordinator for Anderson County emergency services, denied the request on Aug. 13, saying through an e-mail that an investigator with the city of Anderson Police Department said, “This case is still under investigation, and the tape is not for release at this time.”
Attorney Jay Bender, representing the South Carolina Press Association, has said that material not specifically exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act should be accessible to the public.
Dale Grimes has said that officials at the 911 center are covering up for an operator who was disrespectful by repeatedly suggesting that Grimes might have been involved in a crime.
According to the tape, two operators handled the calls efficiently, asking appropriate questions and providing information to police, including location of the reported crime, colors of the bandanas worn by the suspects. Dispatchers also asked for information about weapons involved in the incident, clothing worn by the assailants and the location of the victim.
Dispatch records exist for the period until around 6 a.m. on Aug. 9 as traffic is recorded between police officers involved in a search for suspects in the case, who had not been found as of Thursday.
“The dispatcher had an opinion that she used in her judgment,” Dale Grimes said roughly 72 hours after the men threatened his life in relation to $27. “She was condescending to me and implied that maybe it was a bad drug deal.”
Nothing in the tape provided Thursday suggested that the operator was disrespectful or that she questioned Grimes about a drug deal.
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well after seeing this i believe a retract my previous statement
"ANDERSON COUNTY — A day after a media report"
A media report???? Sorry AIM but you were the reporting media. At least be honest to your readers.
They may pay taxes, but with all the self enrichment they are handing themselves and their friends why would they care. It is the people who are struggling in this tough economy that are suffering. A simple case of the wealthy not caring because with their wealth the state of the economy is no more than a nuisance. How many people on County Council and who work for county and city administration are at risk of losing their homes. They get that guaranteed paycheck, that guaranteed raise, all the best benefits. Of course they are going to defend every move of Slick Joey. They are going to get theirs regardless of what happens to everyone else.
Sophievoter's obsessive defense of every single thing Preston does makes me wonder how sophievoter is being rewarded and enriched by Preston. I can understand people being obsessive about defending their rights or their tax dollars. That is only a normal act of self preservation and our patriotic duty. For someone to lie, in just about every statement they post, claiming everything people are complaining about is just a figment of their imagination and that everything is just hunky dory...takes someone making money hand over fist with Joey Preston's administration. Either sophievoter is the most briliant person who ever lived and the rest of us are just ignoramouses, or sophievoter is at the trough with Slick Joey and lies with every breath to protect their position.
Sophievoter you have officially won the PROPAGANDA PUPPET AWARD of 2008. We will all advise Slick Joey of your loyalty and ask him to send cash as checks can be traced.
How despicable can your leadership (as a lame duck council) be, to do things the voters have clearly sent a message indicating they do not want. I have no doubt having all this happen while Waldrep is out of town is no coincidence either.
Preston moves forward, regardless of what the citizenry clearly indicated they don't want, because he had promised out the largesse to city leaders, contractors, developers and all the other monied people he is manipulating. By drawing them into his web he makes them as guilty as he is and now they won't do what is best for the constituents but what will protect their mutual acts of self enrichment. How many times do things have to happen in this county where the standard answer to questions is, "it is a secret" or "file an FOI" if you want to know. Never mind AIM has filed for all the FOI ever requested and if Slick Joey doesn't want to answer an FOI all he has to do is say, "we handled them in order and you are 2,340th on the list." He has already had the Supreme Court rule he can answer FOI requests at his leisure. The deck continues to be stacked higher and higher. Slick Joey has made himself into the "teflon Don" of Anderson County.
How Slick Joey Preston has sewed this all up so neatly for himself is the reason we should fear him one and all.
I want to know who wrote this article for Pearce. The writing style, attention to detail, coherent sentences and overall effort to take the air out of Grime's complaint about the handling of this matter, is no more Pearce's work than the Mona Lisa is mine.
Just a question for CindyRoper, what in the world does this tirade have to do with the article above? (shaking my head)
It is an overall commentary on the state of things in this county and how much like dominoes the attitude and actions of one department spills into the next. Slick Joey is going to be the ruination of Anderson County.
What do your multiple login names agreeing with each other and patting each other on the back have to do with anything you post anywhere?
I heard that Slick Joey is out in the Atlantic right now directing tropical storm hanna towards south carolina.
I am sorry but you have me confused with someone one else. I only have one login name here. Thus I can't pat myself on the back. And I think I have the ability to have meaningful opinions just as you do, even if we are 180 degrees away from agreeing.
I think someone needs help! The article above has nothing to do with making money or losing a house! Try reading it again or this time try opening the correct article before posting.
I really try not to read silly posting dealing county problems.
The man is complaining about how 911 handled his distressed call for help.
in response to u235
My thoughts exactly! I think ALOT of the posters need help. Does Joey have to brought into everything?
in response to quy
quy,
I agree. Read the story about the road rage incident. That's more like a Pearce story.
I certainly hope the AIM will bring back "straight talk". There is hardly a comment posted on any article that stays on the subject of the article.
I agree with you!
in response to seekthecreek
Wow, oddly enough your comment doesn't seem to be on subject either!
Seven minutes seven seconds sure does seem like a long time to be "chatting" about a crime in progress or having just occurred. At the time, this dispatcher didn't know the husband had also called. The story is the calls were 10 seconds apart. How is the guy on his face on the ground gonna be calling anybody?
Smells like a coverup for bad behavior. This is how arrogance from the top rolls down hill.
in response to seekthecreek
There is a site that is run by an ex Straight Talk user. The AIM sent out an email with the address in it 2 weeks after closing ST. You can go here and have a look if you'd like.
http://tinyurl.com/62nbws
The AIM is the same as when my mother worked there. They will say what and when they have to to make themself look good. Unless you are a paying them then they will smile to your face and talk about you as soon as you leave. Everybody better read this fast cause they censor me.
It only takes a minute or so to find out a person's name and that they've been robbed and where it happened.
For the call to have lasted 7 minutes and 7 seconds there must have been a lot more said than what was needed. It sounds like the dispatcher tried to conduct an investigation over the phone and wasted time interrogating the caller.
in response to get_real
Obviously you do not know what you are talking about. Dispatchers have the ability to multi-task, then can talk to someone and take notes while providing information to a second dispatcher who can send an officer out.
It sounds like you are trying to speak of something that you know nothing about and wasted time typing up that sorry excuse for a response.
in response to cityslicker
That's even more reason why it shouldn't have taken that long. We can expect more and more excuses and coverup from county employees. They see that is the method their leader Slick Joey uses to accomplish everything he gets away with. They also know they can expect no repercussions as they are doing what they see their leader doing.
Cityslicker :
You obviously cannot read very well .Try reading the article again SLOWLY and pay special attention to the part that says it was 4 min. and 11 sec. into the call before an officer was even heard on the tape .
The dispatcher spent 4 min. and 11 seconds "multi-tasking" before they even contacted an officer. While they were taking notes and yapping for over 4 minutes the armed robbers were making a getaway.
Maybe it was because the dispatcher was taking the time to get the clothing the thiefs were wearing and the vehicle they were driving so that the police could look for those suspects as he approached where the caller was......just a guess, then again, everyone on here is an expert in everyone else's job. Why don't ya'll put in to be dispatchers since you think you can do better?
in response to get_real
Obviously you need to re-read the article. What was heard on the tape was the officers radio -in the background of the telephone conversation between the 911 caller and the operator. It was not the officer talking to the dispatcher. What this means is that 4min and 11 seconds after the call was received at 911 there was an officer standing near the pearson who was on the phone with the dispatcher, thereby proving there wasn't a 20 something minute response time.
in response to quy
Guy, you can take off the tin foil hat and stop drinking the kool-aid, all of Anderson isn't out to get you.
You really should stop with all of the Joey Preston comments when they don't apply to the conversation at hand because it negates any validity that your statement may have had.
Oh, and just for some clarification, the Anderson City police department in no way, shape, or form answers to Joey Preston. The City is run independent of the county and is overseen by city council, the mayor, and the city manager -John Moore.
So to say that the officers or dispatchers do as please because that's what their leader does is so far out of line that you should be ashamed of yourself and you serve no other purpose on this board than to bash Joey Preston.
I don't the man either, but he isn't the cause of all of the worlds problems.
in response to cityslicker
I thought I would share a few choice words with you like idiot and moron, but thought better of it.
If you will note the first sentence of second paragraph,
"Taylor Jones, Anderson County director of emergency services and public safety, played tape of two 911 calls on Thursday, one from Jennifer Grimes and the other involving Dale Grimes."
This story is about a county department that handles 911 calls for everyone in the county. They answer to Joey Preston. Joey Preston said, "I am the man in Anderson County." No one mentioned or tried to assign blame to the city police for anything. The article didn't and I didn't. So, before you really make yourself look stupid, we will end this.
in response to cityslicker
February 6, 2008 Liz Carey quoting Slick Joey Preston:
"I’ve got 50 different businesses that I run in the county, and all of them are run differently," he said. "I’m not like any other county employee. I have a contract. … Look at my job description. I’m responsible for so many budgets – transportation, and that includes roads, bridges, and the airport. I handle economic development, 911, centralized communication, tax collection … You’re talking to the person who is in charge of it all."
Need I say more cityclicker!
in response to cityslicker
You sound like you want us to believe you know alot about what goes on in the police department. If that is the case, "Roughly 4 minutes and 11 seconds into the call, communication traffic from a responding city of Anderson police officer could be heard in the tape’s background noise."
"Communication traffic" is radio communications, not someone overheard in the background of a telephone conversation. I doubt the police were talking by radio to the victim. That would mean the 911 tape picked up a radio communication playing in the 911 office and heard over the dispatcher's microphone, not the officer in the background at the scene. The article doesn't say what the "communication traffic" was. Since it was the first "communication traffic" heard on the tape it could just as well have been the responding officers acknowledging the dispatch. The chronology of the 911 dispatch records show call received at 04:32:29, officers dispatched 04:36:25 (3:56 later), officers arrived 04:39:09 (6:40 into 911 tape). How could they have been at the scene and heard in the background of the victims's phone 4:10 into the tape?
So, Wilson, what are you going to do when Mr. Preston wins his injunction against Cindy and Bob, and proves once again that the law is on his side? Claim he's taken control of the courts, too?! And is Cindy gonna pay for the legal fees?
in response to get_real
Here's an idea get_real...maybe before you decide that you are an expert in emergency management or emergency telecommunications you should try viewing the CAD call that has been posted, or perhaps even listen to the 911 tapes. Contrary to what you obviously believe, the dispatchers aren't just making arbitrary decisions about what questions to ask or how long to stay on the phone. They have policies and procedures that they have to follow, and those procedures are there to protect them when Joe Blow decides that he isn't happy with the response he got. Perhaps the dispatchers were both on the phone so long because they try to keep all callers for in progress calls on the line, both to ensure caller safety and to be able to update responding officers about any new developments in the situation.
But heaven forbid they do follow proper procedure, because then they will be crucified in the media by the unknowledgable masses for being on the phone too long. Had the dispatcher only gotten the caller's location, complaint and phone number like one person on here suggested then there would be another user on here complaining because something could have happened once the dispatcher disconnected. I would love to see any of the commentators on here try to sit in dispatch for a night and handle one emergency after another and not make a single mistake or not upset a single caller because they don't like the questions that a dispatcher is required to ask.
Perhaps, get_real, you should learn a little more about the subject matter before you form an opinion that has no basis in any sort of first hand knowledge or experience. By all means, apply for a job in dispatch and come show everyone of them how they should perform their job duties as you are so obviously an expert now.
in response to nutmeglynn
I am a 911 dispatcher with over 18 years experience. I concur with what nutmeglynn says.
I'm saddened by the lack of support demonstrated for the 911 office by the people who have replied here. The ludicrous assertion that tapes and CAD logs would be doctored to combat a complaint about response time and attitude on the phone shows how little people know how 9-1-1 centers work. We get complaints like this frequently. Mostly they are unfounded, but occasionally they are valid. We review these and find out how they occurred and what can be done to prevent them from occurring in the future. Covering up a complaint of this nature would take a lot more work than it would be worth. Mistakes happen, but in this case we actually have a very rapid response with professional communicators asking questions appropriate for the incident. The dispatchers who took this call should be applauded for their good work instead of being slapped with suspicion. I'm sorry the gentleman had a gun pointed at his head and was assaulted, but taking out his frustration on those who intervened to help him is a very poor way to say "thank you"
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