An internal investigation by the Coral Springs Police Department in Florida determined that a 911 dispatch supervisor was watching Netflix while dispatchers mishandled the response to a woman who repeatedly called asking for help after being shot at.

What are the details?

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that on the evening of June 9, Guadalupe Herrera spoke with 911 dispatchers three times begging for officers to be dispatched after a projectile (which turned out to be a bullet) shot through the back window of her vehicle, whizzed past her head, hit her windshield and landed in her lap.

Herrera later told the Sun Sentinel, "It was a very hard situation. It was a drive-by shooting. My windshield was shattered. Nobody showed up."

But police weren't alerted to respond until more than 30 minutes after Ms. Herrera's first call. Eventually, the victim gave up and drove herself to the police station.

The CSPD was able to apprehend a suspect who was ultimately charged with premeditated murder, but an additional investigation was launched into what happened in the communications center that night.

An internal affairs report determined that Julie Vidaud, the supervisor on duty the night of Ms. Herrera's calls, was not conducting evaluations during the critical time as she had initially claimed. Investigators determined that what was playing on Vidaud's screen was a Netflix movie.

Vidaud was responsible for overseeing the dispatchers who took Ms. Herrera's calls, but because Vidaud was preoccupied, she missed the fact that the victim's report of a shooting was mislabeled as merely a suspicious incident.

The CSPD report referred to the situation as "a catastrophic failure," and determined that "the evidence conclusively shows that Vidaud spends an inordinate amount of time conducting personal business on the computer to include playing streaming TV and movies."

Vidaud was found to have failed in her supervising duties, and is facing potential suspension.

The two dispatchers who took Ms. Herrera's calls have both been terminated, and the call center has changed its policy to "prohibit any streaming of media services during their shifts."



Coral Springs PD: 911 Call Botched Because Supervisor Was Watching Netflix www.youtube.com



