The 911 call made by Richard Sherman’s wife last week raised plenty of concerns regarding the attitude and demeanor of the person who responded.
The City of Redmond, Washington has received plenty of those complaints. On Monday, the City of Redmond police department issued a statement aimed at getting people to realize that the call in question went not to the city, but to the county.
“The Redmond Police Department has received a series of misdirected complaints following the release of 911 audio from last week’s arrest of Richard Sherman,” the statement explains. “Online petitions and social media comments have raised questions about how the King County Sheriff’s Office handled initial 911 calls from unincorporated King County.
“Many have mistakenly associated those calls to the City of Redmond’s Communications Center, which is not connected to the King County Sheriff’s Office. The City of Redmond was not involved in the recordings highlighted by the complaints. The King County Sheriff’s Office, in response to public comment, opened an administrative review of this matter that will take several months to conclude.”
And there’s the real headline. The City of Redmond publicly has disclosed that King County has initiated a review of the call. (As it should.)
“I am proud of the actions of our Redmond Police personnel involved with this incident, including the very professional work of our emergency communications specialists,” Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe said in the statement. “When listening to the Redmond 911 calls, you will hear the voices of the two male Redmond 911 specialists who remained calm and were empathetic and supportive of the caller in a time of crisis.”
And, yes, that’s a slap at the manner in which the King County Sheriff’s Office handled the 911 call that it received.
The criticism is deserved. The person who answered the call -- and who KNEW it was being recorded -- seemed impatient and combative and unhelpful. She didn’t listen, and she didn’t seem to want to listen. Whatever the reason, it’s not the way that calls like that should be handled.
