MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A Milwaukee Alderman called 911 for help, and the call show the dispatcher not only told him to go to a police station, but also ended the call.
It happened two weeks ago, and Monday, he and other city leaders questioned those in charge of 911 dispatchers.
"911, where is your emergency," the dispatcher said.
They're the people you call in the time of need.
"I'm driving down Lisbon Avenue at 74th Street, approaching Burleigh and Lisbon. Some guy hit me. He's in like a silver or brown, I think this is a Chevy. He's not stopping," Alderman Lamont Westmoreland said to the 911 dispatcher.
"What I need you to do, is I need you to go into the district to make the report because you guys left the scene of the accident," the dispatcher said back.
Watch: Milwaukee alderman shares his personal experience with calling 911:
That's not Westmoreland's only option according to Milwaukee Police, emergency communications and city leaders.
"In my instance, the options should've been you can come to the police station to come to file a report, you can pull over and we'll send a squad to wherever you're at, or when you get home we can send a squad to you," Westmoreland added in an interview with TMJ4 Monday.
It's a story we've heard before.
"Please! Help me!" Hamza Alkarady exclaimed.
TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins talked to Alkarady in March and May of this year. Alkarady showed Jenkins video of a man threatening him with a gun while he was driving.
He circled the city for several minutes while waiting for police to respond, but he said no one showed up.
"I was more traumatized by those operators than the two low lives who were attacking me," Alkarady said.
Since Alkarady's incident, aldermen have questioned dispatch protocol like those three options Westmoreland mentioned. On Monday, during the public safety and health meeting, they asked again.
"A quick memo, hey reminder, to communicators, this is an option. We need to provide that option to people who are in distress as well, instead of just coming to the station, right," Alderman Peter Burgelis asked.
"I see what you're saying," MPD Cpt. Annemarie Domurot responded.
"Fair point, alderman," MPD Asst. Chief Craig Sarnow echoed.
"So, that's just a memo that should've gone out 18 days ago, and it didn't, and we're still waiting for it," Burgelis emphasized again.
Leaders from MPD, the Department of Emergency Communications, and the Fire and Police Commission blamed the memo delay on the Republican National Convention and standard operating procedure within the departments.
They also said this particular dispatcher, who answered Westmoreland's call, was new.
"Communications center has to do better. Period. You know what I mean. That's failing. It's failing citizens, it's failing people, you know what I mean, it's a failure," Westmoreland added.
We reached out to MPD for an interview following Monday's meeting and never heard back.
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