December 26, 2007
Catania's 911 Phone Call Released
The 911 phone call placed by At-large Council member David Catania last week -- the one during which he claims he received "badgering treatment," but the 911 office said he was frantic and unintelligible -- has been released by WTOP.
Take a listen to the audio. The recording is slightly warbled and Catania was clearly upset, but we can't help but side slightly more with the operator on this one. Responding to a question about whether this is a police, fire or medical emergency, Catania misspoke at first and said, "fire," before correcting himself, shouting "I mean police, police!" When the operator tried to clarify, the yelling began, with Catania eventually demanding the operator's ID number while shouting over her asking him questions.
While recognizing that he was obviously scared and in a panic, it's still admittedly funny when the operator asks him if he is intoxicated, considering Catania had already taken the time to identify himself as a D.C. Council member. One point in Catania's favor: it does seem like it would have helped if the operator had told him that police officers were already on the way earlier than she did, since that seemed to be his main concern during all the yelling that went on while she tried to get more details out of him about what exactly was happening and what he had seen or heard. Overall though, the 911 operator's behavior comes across as pretty professional to us.
Tom Lee contributed
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Catania's a jerk on this one.
After his berating of the 911 chieftain last week, this tape shows Catania is full of crap. He's clearly highly excited as he's making the call. But he seems more interested in making the operator pay complete and total attention to him, rather than providing the operator with the info she needs. Overall it's kinda hard to not sypmathize with the operator when she ends the call.
But it makes Catania look like an ass for the way he treated the 911 chief in the council hearing. The way he portrayed it at that time, you would have thought the operator was a total buffoon who was refusing to assist in an emergency. In reality, the operator did her job and it was Catania who was acting the part of the buffoon.
And I do like that she asked if he was drunk while making the call. That set Catania off even more.
He's an ass.
He was being uncooperative and not at all helpful. The operator did the best she could.
Team operator.
From the WTOP article: "The call taker involved was not disciplined." Thank McGee for that. But wouldn't it be nice if Catania would be a man, and simply apologize, so this would go away?
He was wound up and frustrated, and made a bad decision after the call. But his refusal to even listen to the recording during the hearing, and refusal to be interviewed by WTOP, are disingenuous. I am OK that he fucked up. Everyone does. I am not OK that he skulks in the shadows during the aftermath.
his false memory of the call cannot compete with the recorded tape...
bet you anything Cantinia neither backs down nor apologizes.
Being a Councilmember means you never have to say you're sorry.
See, e.g., Barry, Marion.
Wow, I've had my share of useless DC 911 call takers/dispatchers, but this really doesn't seem like the case here. He needed to calm the hell down and answer her questions.
As much as I applaud some of councilmember Cantania's past pronouncements and insights on certain District issues, this incident is clearly a case of a public official behaving very badly. His actions are genuinely a bad example of how to contact 911 in an emergency. Whether Mr. Catania recognizes it or not, his actions and distractions could have potentially further endangered the victim outside his window. Emergency operators have a small window of time to fully and accurately assess an emergency 911 call, while deciding to dispatch appropriate help. Having listened to the audio transcript several times, and reading the text version, there's no doubt David owes operator 1040 a public and written apology. Councilmember Catania must remember he is also publicly paid government employee who is expected to behave and perform as professionally as operator 1040 did that day.
Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
www.DCIndependents.org
dennis@DCIndependents.org
I agree with Catania. She should have dispatched the police up front. He shouldn't have to be calm for her to do that.
I can't believe he is being criticized for trying to assist a resident in need.
Any sitting and experienced D.C. councilmember already knows the protocals of the 911 call service they legislate and help regulate. Only seconds after a call arrives, the process of dispatching help is already in progress. Keeping the caller online helps with obtaining additional valuable information.
As much as I applaud some of councilmember Catania's past pronouncements and insights on certain District issues, this incident is clearly a case of a public official behaving very badly. His actions are genuinely a bad example of how to contact 911 in an emergency. Whether Mr. Catania recognizes it or not, his actions and distractions could have potentially further endangered the victim outside his window. Emergency operators have a small window of time to fully and accurately assess an emergency 911 call, while deciding to dispatch appropriate help. Wasting time oasting about his position as a councilmember was unrelated to the actual help every District citizen or official must immediately receive in an emergency. Having listened to the audio transcript several times, and reading the text version, there's no doubt David owes operator 1040 a public and written apology. Councilmember Catania must remember he is also a publicly paid government employee who is expected to behave and perform as professionally as operator 1040 did that day.
Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
www.DCIndependents.org
dennis@DCIndependents.org
What an ass. The next day he went on TV and berated the call taker in the council hearing on the 911/311 call center and essentially demanded that corrective action be taken against her. And this was to the call center director (Janice Quintana).
The fact that at the beginning he tells the operator that he's a council member says a lot. Are council members supposed to get better public service than the rest of us schlubs?
1040 was professional, no wrongdoing on her part.
100% on team operator.
Catania obviously thought that she was asking him more questions in order to determine whether or not to send a car. However, his mistaken assumptions about 911 policies and procedures don't come close to justifying his obnoxious, high-handed and rude responses to her questions. If you call 911, and the operator is asking you questions, why in the world wouldn't you just answer them instead of getting all belligerent and demanding the operator's ID number (and then their name!)? And if he was really so worried about whether a car had been sent, why didn't he just come out and ask if one had much earlier in the conversation?
Catania needs to apologize to Operator 1040, to the call center director, and to the entire city for wasting our collective time and mental energy on his absolutely bullshit complaint.
I don't think the operator was being rude, but she clearly didn't know how to handle a panicked caller. He gave her the crime and location- she should have made it much clearer earlier in the call that she had dispatched the unit rather than wasting all that time telling him to "stop yelling" and "calm down." An immediate "they're on their way, can you tell me more?" after getting the information would have done a lot to diffuse the situation.
It's not misconduct...just bad practice, I think.
I think there is a teeeeny bit of validity to the concerns Catania raises; dispatchers need to be more conscientious of questions that could frustrate or discourage panicked callers.
Catania needs to apoogize of he's lost my vote.
Can somebody please tell me why the FUCK people keep reelecting this asshole? As someone who has dealt with Catania in the past, this is typical behavior from him.
I phoned the Catania office and left a message. Others wishing to do the same use (202) 724-7772.
He's a Republican in Independent clothing for God's sake! Smoke his head!
I phoned the Catania office and left a message. Others wishing to do the same use (202) 724-7772.
He's a Republican in Independent clothing for God's sake! Smoke his head!
I phoned the Catania office and left a message. Others wishing to do the same use (202) 724-7772.
He's a Republican in Independent clothing for God's sake! Smoke his head!
In reply to some of the e-mails I received about my comments presented above: We cannot negate the fact that councilmember Catania is not a novice citizen when it comes to calm and deliberate articulation under verbal adversity at D.C. Council hearings. Additionally, as a experienced public official he is surely aware of the protocal for dispensing calm, clear and concise information in an emergency. If he is not, I would truly worry to have him in a critical leadership position during a citywide crisis where calm and focused decisions need to be made with a sense of urgency and efficiency.
The calm and focus of operator 1040 should not be misconstrued as "indifference" or insensitivity to the gravity of the situation. Her training enabled her to expeditiously deliver help to the actual victim on the street, and incarceration to the victimizer — despite the inarticulate and belligerant distractions of Mr. Catania.
In the profession of emergency and military services, operator 1040's actions are known as threat assessment. With the daily reality of erroneous, fake and sometimes comical 911 calls, calmly and quickly assessing the source of information in real time emergencies is equally critical. Having personally known bad and good experiences with emergency personnel over the last 35 years, I would easily say this can be classified as a good response for the victim. Remember she was helped and her attacker was caught within twelve minutes. We should all hope for a similar or better response.
Apologize, learn, and move-on David.
Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
www.DCIndependents.org
dennis@DCIndependents.org
In reply to some of the e-mails I received about my comments presented above: We cannot negate the fact that councilmember Catania is not a novice citizen when it comes to calm and deliberate articulation under verbal adversity at D.C. Council hearings. Additionally, as a experienced public official he is surely aware of the protocal for dispensing calm, clear and concise information in an emergency. If he is not, I would truly worry to have him in a critical leadership position during a citywide crisis where calm and focused decisions need to be made with a sense of urgency and efficiency.
The calm and focus of operator 1040 should not be misconstrued as "indifference" or insensitivity to the gravity of the situation. Her training enabled her to expeditiously deliver help to the actual victim on the street, and incarceration to the victimizer — despite the inarticulate and belligerant distractions of Mr. Catania.
In the profession of emergency and military services, operator 1040's actions are known as threat assessment. With the daily reality of erroneous, fake and sometimes comical 911 calls, calmly and quickly assessing the source of information in real time emergencies is equally critical. Having personally known bad and good experiences with emergency personnel over the last 35 years, I would easily say this can be classified as a good response for the victim. Remember she was helped and her attacker was caught within twelve minutes. We should all hope for a similar or better response.
Apologize, learn, and move-on David.
Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
www.DCIndependents.org
dennis@DCIndependents.org
In reply to some of the e-mails I received about my comments presented above: We cannot negate the fact that councilmember Catania is not a novice citizen when it comes to calm and deliberate articulation under verbal adversity at D.C. Council hearings. Additionally, as a experienced public official he is surely aware of the protocal for dispensing calm, clear and concise information in an emergency. If he is not, I would truly worry to have him in a critical leadership position during a citywide crisis where calm and focused decisions need to be made with a sense of urgency and efficiency.
The calm and focus of operator 1040 should not be misconstrued as "indifference" or insensitivity to the gravity of the situation. Her training enabled her to expeditiously deliver help to the actual victim on the street, and incarceration to the victimizer — despite the inarticulate and belligerant distractions of Mr. Catania.
In the profession of emergency and military services, operator 1040's actions are known as threat assessment. With the daily reality of erroneous, fake and sometimes comical 911 calls, calmly and quickly assessing the source of information in real time emergencies is equally critical. Having personally known bad and good experiences with emergency personnel over the last 35 years, I would easily say this can be classified as a good response for the victim. Remember she was helped and her attacker was caught within twelve minutes. We should all hope for a similar or better response.
Apologize, learn, and move-on David.
Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
www.DCIndependents.org
dennis@DCIndependents.org