MILWAUKEE — It's a story TMJ4 has been following for weeks, ever since a man emailed the station with concerns about his experience calling 911 during a visit to Milwaukee.
On Thursday night, Ryan Jenkins and the Lighthouse team will uncover how a key piece of information managed to go missing while a man begged 911 operators for help while being chased at gunpoint through Milwaukee streets.
Hamza Alkarady call ended up being transferred between several jurisdictions, as he was ultimately chased from Milwaukee to West Bend.
Ryan had the chance to take Alkarady's concerns to the woman in charge of 911 dispatchers in Milwaukee, Captain Annemarie Domurat. She said, that because Alkarady's first 911 call was a hangup call, critical information was lost in her note-taking system that would have otherwise been transferred — including the fact that Alkarady was being chased at gunpoint.
"Immediately when he called, my operator was able to get a GPS location and start a call for service for him," said Domurat.
Domurant said the issue was that Hamza hung up during his first 911 call. Because of that, Domurant said notes that were entered into their system were lost.
"Hamza hung up on our operator and he called him back almost immediately but once he did that all of his information as far as his location and his cell phone number did not get transferred to the other jurisdiction," she said.
But, it wasn't just Hamza's location and cell phone number that didn't get transferred. The information Hamza shared about being chased at gunpoint was also lost. Had Hamza not hung up, Captain Domurant said the information about the gun would've been in the system for dispatchers in other jurisdictions to see when his call was transferred to them.
Ryan Jenkins: When that happens and the dispatcher calls back, Is that something that the dispatcher should have been relaying? Some of the information that would have been lost?
Captain Domurant: He would not have had that information anymore after Hamza hung up
Ryan Jenkins: But, if (Hamza) hung up wouldn't (the dispatcher) have known?
Captain Domurant: "He had his cell phone number, but as far as his location he wouldn't have had that."
Ryan Jenkins: "But the information that he was being chased at Gunpoint?"
Captain Domurant: Right he would have that.
But if you listen to the transfer, you hear the dispatcher tell the next dispatcher that Hamza is "being chased." No mention of a gun.
Domurant said it would've been up to the other dispatchers in different jurisdictions to re-learn about Hamza's panic regarding the gun.
"Every department has their own protocol regarding which questions they want to ask. So the main thing is we just want them to connect to the right services. So then it would be on the next operator to ask what's going on and what's happening," she said.
Jenkins asked local law enforcement expert Chuck Padgett, who is not connected to this case but is a retired police chief, about this piece of information that went missing.
Chuck Padgett: "When Milwaukee transferred it, they said he was being chased but I didn't hear anything about a gun."
Ryan Jenkins: "That seems like a critical bit of information."
Chuck Padgett: "Yeah, that's highly critical. Like I said, not only for his safety but for officers who are responding too and anybody else."
Still, despite that breakdown, Captain Domurant tells TMJ4 that no protocols were broken by the Milwaukee Police Department.
Ryan Jenkins: "Should that person be re-entering that information, is that part of protocol?"
Captain Domurant: "Yes."
Ryan Jenkins: "So, was that missed in this case? On this call?"'
Captain Domurant: "No, a call for service was entered in Milwaukee and a squad did respond but Mr. Hamza had already left the area."
Ryan Jenkins: "Yes But, The dispatcher knew that he was calling Hamza back because he was being chased at gunpoint, and it sounds like the gunpoint part of that was never relayed on."
Captain Domurant: "When someone gets transferred to another 911 center, they have different protocols. So, we would just let their operator ask whatever questions they --- they have a different protocol than MPD."
Hamza said he went on to be chased from Milwaukee to West Bend before getting away with the person with a gun, all while connected to the people he called for help. An experience he called traumatizing.
"I was more traumatized by those operators than the two low lives who were attacking me," he said.
Captain Domurant says in this case, the dispatchers in Milwaukee did their job.
"As far as a lack of urgency, our operator entered the call immediately and a squad was dispatched pretty soon after so I'm disappointed that he thought we didn't consider it urgent because a squad was sent," Domurant said.
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